Close to Home: Why the best stories begin right outside our window
Sporadic Scribbles: occasional musings on the writer's journey . . .
Like many of us, I’ve longed to write from a young age. I don’t entirely know why. I suppose the idea always appealed to me, linked perhaps to wanting an outlet for a vivid imagination. Like many, I was enthralled by books, films, TV, and radio, and with our imaginations stimulated in various compelling and thrilling ways, it seems only natural to have the desire and the need to tell our own stories. The sentiment grew stronger with age, and in my late teens, I decided it was all I wanted to do.
Like many young writers, I began by emulating (although, in reality, imitating) the writers I admired and loved. Writers such as Alan Sillitoe, Doris Lessing, Barry Hines, Ray Bradbury, Beryl Bainbridge and Somerset Maugham, to list but a few. Moreover, being Welsh-born and bred, the prominent writers and poets of the nation inspired me. Perhaps some of these writers are unfamiliar to you. But if you look up authors such as Kate Roberts, Rhys Davies, Alun Lewis, Gwyn Jones, Glyn Jones, Gwyn Thomas, Caradoc Evans, etc., You’ll uncover that these writers, with their varying styles and themes, were a testament to the vitality and uniqueness of the Welsh story-telling tradition and were and remain an inspiration to Welsh literature and writing throughout the nation.
However, most of these writers who helped shape notions of Welsh identity in both the literary and popular imagination were from South Wales, particularly the county of Glamorgan. As an aspiring writer, this often (naively, might I add) placed me in a quandary. I was born and raised in North-east Wales along the English border, a place that was neither fish nor fowl, its influences as much English as they were Welsh, where England seemed but a stone’s throw away, be it the old Roman walls of Chester, or the dividing blue-grey current of the Dee Estuary.
Back then, and it seems so foolish reflecting on it after all these years, lacking a Southern accent and all the other imaginary credentials (I believed were required), I struggled to understand what I could write about. My local area lacked the south’s coalfields and Welsh accent; in fact, the region as a whole barely spoke Welsh. Perhaps I had to travel to find something thrilling and worthy to write about. I did eventually journey across the globe, aware of, yet still unable to truly see and appreciate, the heritage, history, and countless stories of the Dee Estuary, The Greenfield Valley, The Holy Well of St Winifred’s, The old mills and factories, the influence of geographical and social borders, that I left behind on my doorstep.
Work, travel, and family commitments took me away from writing for many years. It wasn’t until my 40s, during and after completing my PhD that my understanding of northeast Wales, the local area, its places, people, history, and heritage hit home for me. And I’ve been exploring it throughout my writing ever since.
Through my short story collection, Histories of the Dead and Other Stories and literary crime novels such as Welcome to HolyHell and, more recently, Border Sands, I have endeavoured to put the Northeast corner of Wales a tiny bit further on the literary map. Of course, like most writers, one of my principal aims is to create an entertaining and thought-provoking read. But also through the genre of crime, folk horror, and literary fiction, I explore notions of place and belonging, borders both social and geographical, and how the histories of both the self and a given place continue to affect us, and in doing so, I try, in my own small way, to place northeast Wales one tiny step further in the reader’s imagination.
Some well-known words of advice that new and aspiring writers often receive are ‘write what you know …’ This can be interpreted in many ways. Sometimes, it’s best not to take writing advice too literally, no matter how well intended.
Writing about what you know also pertains to our emotions, feelings, thoughts, and everyday experiences. Our understanding of the human experience doesn’t need to be limited to the ‘local’ but can be explored in stories brought to life by our vivid imaginations. However, from my experience, the ‘local’ should never be ignored. Because often, the best place for writers to look for inspiration lies outside their window.