Personal Habits and Writing

I used to smoke when I was in my teens, but gave up in my mid-20s and haven't puffed since.  So I don't think about characters smoking.  I've only once had a reference to smoking, when a character wishes they hadn't given up because now would be a really good time to have a cigarette.  

But I have written about diets and calories and all the paraphernalia about losing weight.  I made so many references in one book - I think it was A Single to Rome  - that my editor asked me if the main character had a weight problem as all she seemed to think about were calories.  

What can I say? I don't smoke and have a tendency to put on weight, and my writing reflects my preoccupations.  My characters are often stroking and touching things which reflects my own tactile habits, but rarely fuss about what they're wearing (unless it's a concern that they've got it wrong).  We had a discussion in class about using the five senses, and many of us (including me) said they had a poor sense of smell so rarely included that, whereas for others it was as important as the visuals. 

I do a certain amount of manipulation so my characters have habits and characteristics other than mine - more have had straight hair than curly, although I'm hazy about what using straighteners implies, so try to avoid too much hair description - but I'm sure my real concerns and preoccupations shine through.  When I read Caitlin Moran, and in particular her recent book How to be a Woman, I often feel like saying: not all women suffer from cystitis.  That's you, not me.

James Joyce once wrote that all fiction is autobiographical fantasy, and perhaps there's more autobiography in fiction than many of us would care to reveal.  But I think we just can't help ourselves. 

Writing about Me, Me, Me

It's a question that writers get asked a lot: is your novel autobiographical? I always reply with an emphatic no, and it's certainly true that I have never had an affair, been a garden historian or a lawyer, or generally done any of the things my characters have done. They are works of fiction, coming from my imagination rather than real life.

For me it would be inhibiting to write fiction based on real life events. You'd always be worrying about what the real people thought about it, and constricted by what really happened. Real life is so random, it's rarely the stuff of good story telling. Just because something 'really happened' doesn't make it more interesting or valid on the page. If anything, the opposite seems to be the case.

But. But, but, but. It's disingenuous to claim that it's all made up. In truth I'm the central character, and every other character too. Sometimes I indulge in the aspects of my personality that I don't usually display, sometimes I try out aspects I don't think I have. One of my favourite characters is the horrible George in Adultery for Beginners - oh, how I loved being him, he has no redeeming features whatsoever. I use my experiences as background: I did garden history as part of my degree, cue Anna the garden historian; I spent time in Rome as a student, cue Natalie's escape destination.

I wouldn't want to write about my life because, for the most part, it's neither dramatic or particularly interesting. I had a happy childhood that I can hardly remember and my adult life has been fairly stress free. Joyce apparently described fiction as being autobiographical fantasy, which I like as a definition. Because, although I am making it all up when I write, it's also all about me, me, me.