If you've ever seen 'Who Do You Think You Are' -on the BBC where a variety of actors, musicians and other well known people are shown following up their family history and revealing often moving stories about their ancestors- then you may already know what I'm going to talk about.
(There has even been an American version which was broadcast in the UK).
Now you may never have given your ancestry any thought, let alone done any family history research yourself, but it is a wonderful tool for novel ideas and starting points for finding out information.
In fact for a writer it is very easy to get side-tracked by the stories of other families rather than your own.
I have to admit that I leave the trawling of records to my OH as he is very good at it- though my family history is still struggling to move beyond the early 1800's (going backwards from the present day of course).
But sometimes gems are revealed in passing that you can't resist...
A bigamous marriage.
Very old photos perhaps with a name and an address, or maybe just an interesting face that weaves a story in your mind.
An old letter or a message on a postcard.
A marriage recorded- by Special Licence rather than Banns.
A death in strange circumstances and the resulting inquest.
The BBC has a page of photos The Nation's Scrapbook, with images submitted by people and covering a wide variety of subjects.
All just another method of sparking ideas. Though don't forget, the truth can actually be stranger than fiction...
Carol Bevitt's blog on her writing and inspirations, along with occasional literature related news...
Monday 26 September 2011
Saturday 24 September 2011
The Things You Find in Books...
Have you ever bought an old book and found something interesting inside it between the pages?
I ask because the Chairman at our writers' club read out some pages of writing that she found in an old book that she recently bought. The woman being written about was clearly the female equivalent of Michael Crawford's character Frank in 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'.
We weren't sure if this woman existed (it covered a couple of months in 1963) or if it was a would-be writer's notes; perhaps it was just delusional ramblings, but there were numerous story ideas that could have been inspired from this hapless woman's disasters...
In the early 20thC it seemed to be more usual to find written inscriptions inside books, dated and signed. Not necessarily from the author of the book, but from the book buyer to a friend or relative.
The ones I've come across always seem to have been written in fountain pen blue ink with that beautiful elegant writing that was taught a hundred years ago.
Perhaps those people felt that book was special, it meant something to them and to the person they gave it to.
It can also be very sad too. I once found an old book- in a charity shop- with an inscription from a parent to a child, then I looked at the date the book was published and the date of the inscription and I realised it was given new. Did that child keep that book all their life and only after their death did it get boxed up and sent elsewhere, old and irrelevant in today's world?
So I think in future when I give a book as a special gift I'm going to start putting an inscription inside so the reason why I've given it to that person (and when) isn't forgotten...
I ask because the Chairman at our writers' club read out some pages of writing that she found in an old book that she recently bought. The woman being written about was clearly the female equivalent of Michael Crawford's character Frank in 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'.
We weren't sure if this woman existed (it covered a couple of months in 1963) or if it was a would-be writer's notes; perhaps it was just delusional ramblings, but there were numerous story ideas that could have been inspired from this hapless woman's disasters...
In the early 20thC it seemed to be more usual to find written inscriptions inside books, dated and signed. Not necessarily from the author of the book, but from the book buyer to a friend or relative.
The ones I've come across always seem to have been written in fountain pen blue ink with that beautiful elegant writing that was taught a hundred years ago.
Perhaps those people felt that book was special, it meant something to them and to the person they gave it to.
It can also be very sad too. I once found an old book- in a charity shop- with an inscription from a parent to a child, then I looked at the date the book was published and the date of the inscription and I realised it was given new. Did that child keep that book all their life and only after their death did it get boxed up and sent elsewhere, old and irrelevant in today's world?
So I think in future when I give a book as a special gift I'm going to start putting an inscription inside so the reason why I've given it to that person (and when) isn't forgotten...
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