As a writer, I need inspiration and I find water is one of
the most inspiring elements. Whether it
is looking out over the Bristol Channel at the end of a long sunny day, or
watching the restless sea beating on the Devon coast, I just can't get enough
of the view. It sets the creative juices flowing.
Writers need contrast in their books, so I
need inspiration for the reflective scenes as much as for the exciting ones,
and water provides that. Perhaps it is because we live on an island, we are
never very far from water and for someone who writes about Georgian England,
water is important.
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| HMS Trincomalee, Hartlepool |
Along with coal, it powered the industrial revolution, and provided
trade routes around the coast or via the rivers and canals for centuries before
the roads and railways took over.
Recently I have been travelling around Scotland, where they
have, er, an abundance of water. It's everywhere, in the rivers and lochs and
around the coast with its thousands of islands. (there is also plenty in the sky, too, but luckily not when we were there!) There was the excited anticipation
of setting out on a ferry to the remote island of Jura,
and the sheer pleasure of sitting in the sun,
watching the seals sunning themselves in the bay at Port Charlotte, on Islay.
You might think this would only provide inspiration for seafaring
adventures, but not in my case. Although I do have some books set beside the
sea, and even on it, many of my books are set in Regency London, or in an
English country house, but travelling around and looking at waterfalls and
wonderful views over vast expanses of water seems to free the mind to wander where
it will, resolving knotty problems about plot providing a route to the necessary
happy ending.
But you don't have to travel that far to enjoy the benefits
of water, fountains and lakes in city parks can be just as enjoyable, or
walking along a canal. Even just soaking in a bath has been known to help when
I have been wrestling with a storyline!
Happy reading (and writing).
Melinda Hammond / Sarah Mallory
Beauty & the Brooding Lord
Out now!
3 comments:
What an interesting and thoughtful post, Melinda/Sarah. You are right about the power of water to stir the imagination. I think it's something to do with its fluidity - the 'what if' factor as far as a writer is concerned. There are many ways to tackle a scene and many paths a heroine can take - and it's the same with water. A river in spate after a storm is a very different river from the gentle meandering of the same river on a hot summer's day with dragonflies hovering.
Thankyou, Elizabeth, I agree, water is with us in such a variety of ways and can affect a mood, whether inspiring an author or used to describe a scene.
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