Faye Brann: Write Where You Know
Faye Brann: Write Where You Know
Local author Faye Brann explains why she loves to set her books in south west London
‘Write what you know’. It’s a mantra that’s often drummed into writers, but it can feel restrictive, and as a crime writer, it’s a potential dead end – unless you happen to moonlight as an assassin or a diamond thief. I much prefer the idea of ‘write where you know’. I think there can be something joyful – playful, even – about crafting stories that are set in the place you know best (especially if you’re a crime writer!).
The inspiration for my first novel, Tinker, Tailor, Schoolmum, Spy, was certainly sparked by my ‘where’. I’d recently moved back to London after a decade abroad; it was still early days in terms of befriending the mums at school drop off, so I spent a lot of time alone with my thoughts. I was in a Wimbledon coffee shop when the idea came to me, that I’d make the perfect secret agent: a middle-aged woman, invisible and ignored by everyone around me. Once I’d had the idea, I couldn’t shake the notion that the story should be set in Putney. What easier place could there be to write about, than a fictional version of the universe I already lived in?
Basing the book in my local environs provided me with a rich vein to tap right on my doorstep, and ideas flowed easily as I went about my daily routine. The road I parked on for my son’s music lessons made the perfect stakeout spot; the lavish staircase and basement kitchen of a school mum coffee morning became the family home of an illegal arms trader; and the gridded streets of Putney provided the perfect backdrop for my protagonist and her friends to live. While the story was somewhat fantastical, putting my characters in a setting that I knew well offered a grounded aspect to the book that imagination alone couldn’t have provided. By the time it was published, the school mums (who were now my good friends) scoured the book for signs of themselves, but were disappointed to find the only things I had borrowed were locations: front gardens and floorplans, plus vaguely familiar descriptions of a now-defunct Putney high-street bar and the mansion-lined streets of Wimbledon Common.
(Scroll to keep reading)
When planning my next novel, Kiss, Marry, Murder, I decided that I would once again set the book locally. I decided on Barnes Village, peppering in a bit of Putney, Tooting and Richmond along the way. Barnes is used sparingly in the book, but it played a huge role in shaping the plot. The narrow streets tucked behind White Hart Lane inspired the railway-side cottages where the murder takes place, while the wider environs of Putney Heath provided a suspenseful chase scene. A maisonette on Trinity Road where a friend once lived; a flat on the outskirts of Richmond I rented in the late nineties – once again, it’s proved inspiring to write about places I’ve known and loved, twisting facts here and there to suit my story but providing the fiction with a solid footing. Kiss, Marry, Murder is the first in a series and I am already plotting books two and three – one with a Wimbledon theme, the other drawing my protagonist towards Hampton Court. It’s testament to the power of the ‘where’ that I can already envisage how the murders might play out, or conversely where my characters might sit and drink a cup of coffee or go and get their teeth checked.
It’s a long-standing joke, with my friends and family, that I have moved house a lot in my adult life. My changes of address occupy pages of old-fashioned address books up and down the country and even now, no one believes us when we say we’re not moving ever again. I wouldn’t recommend moving as often as I have, but the upside is that I’ve got to know south west London rather intimately over the course of my adult life, and it has given me an abundance of material to work with. So while it might be tempting for some writers to move beyond the ‘where you know’, I’ve very happy writing on my doorstep.
Kiss, Marry, Murder is out on 28th May and available to order from Amazon or selected local bookshops. A huge thank you to the independent bookshops of Barnes, Wimbledon and Richmond too – it makes a real difference to every writer to know they are supported in the place where they live!
