Monday 24 February 2014

Where you live, what you write

The Global Short Story Competition received an entry from Norway today, which got me thinking about landscapes.

As I have said in previous blogs, I have always believed that a writer is influenced to some degree by where they live and work.

Yes I know it is a gross generalisation but I am sure that a writer writing in a dark, cold country produces different fiction than one in a bright sunny one.

Certainly if you look at the great Scandinavian and Icelandic crime writers their work is influenced by their surroundings and darkness permeates their work.

I can only speak from my own experience. I write best in Winter. I also write about a fictional city called Hafton. Sited in the North of England, it is based in part on a real city which most appeals to me in winter, when the streets glisten with rainwater and darkness falls early, casting long shadows.

The result is work that deals with dark themes and I believe they emerge from the darkness of the city.

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John Dean

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