I remember when I was little, watching a Making Of documentary about Robin of Sherwood . One of the points which the writer made was that each person who retells the Robin Hood legend adds a little something to the story. He introduced the idea of the occult – the Baron de Belleme in particular is a terrifying character – and this later influenced other Robin Hood adaptations, including the character of Mortianna in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves . You might be surprised to find that this blog is not actually about any version of Robin Hood. In fact, it’s about the TV series Merlin . That’s your recommended viewing for wet days during summer, if we have any rain ever again after this heatwave! I first came across Merlin when it was released in 2008. It was such a Big Deal that a trailer for the series was shown at the cinema when I went to watch Tropic Thunder with my older sister while living with her in Ipswich. I mostly just remember the dragon and thinking it looked ok. Some...
The history of the written word is fascinating. It is largely easy enough to come across in the form of books and pamphlets, and through these we can get an idea of how society was structured - at least from the top downwards!
But the best writing to tell you the truth about someone, comes in the form of letters.
Over the years, I've collected many letters - some personal to me, others from and to complete strangers. As you might have gathered, we are a family of hoarders when it comes to history. There are letters from businessmen to clients, from parents to children, and from partner to partner. They provide a wonderful insight into the normality of life, something which I feel has helped me to better form my characters in my head so that, although these letters might never make the page, I know the backdrop to their conversations: what they chose to write about and what matters to them when they are at a distance from one another.
One letter which did make it into my writing was from the physician Henry Thompson to his little daughter, Kit. For so accomplished a man, it was refreshing and magical to read his words on another level as he wrote to his child from his new position in Brussels. The humanity shines out of his words, as does his humour, and I feel I have come to see a side to him that few people knew, all from the letter.
And then there's the handwriting. When Day's Dying Glory went out to its Beta Readers (a very scary experience for a debut book!) one of the enduring comments made was in praise of the line:
‘Miss Imogen,’ she read, in a hand that was alarmingly angular and aggressive.
The artistry of handwriting can be used as surely as any other feature to tell readers a lot about the writer. Is the letter hurried? Are the words meticulously formed? Has someone toyed with new and interesting styles of writing?
Below are parts of a couple of letters I've collected over the years. Imagine the hands which wrote them, the eyes which read them, and the hearts and minds united over them... Instant characters, settings, and relationships!
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