LIFE-WRITES EXTRACT

Character Building

It’s been said that ‘we are what we eat’, and food can also play an important part in fiction writing as a device to give insight into a character’s background and personality. How and what we eat can speak volumes about a person and their lifestyle. If we wish to convey wealth then our characters will consume copious amount of champagne; poverty can be summed up with bread and dripping. Lavish banquets can set the scene in historical fiction, while wartime rationing gives a sense of camaraderie in coupon sharing. Food fads are also a sign of the times and our characters will need to reflect what is ‘in’ and what is ‘out’, especially if the fiction is a period piece.

Consider that every part of the world has its own instantly recognisable style of preparing and offering food, and can help set the scene for readers; to jog memories and draw them into your story. How many of these scenes can you ‘see’ just from a brief mention of the food?

• Freshly baked bagels from a Jewish Sunday morning bakery;

• Traditional fish ‘n chips in an English seaside resort;

• Christmas cake baking in grandma’s kitchen;

• A trucker’s breakfast from an old fashioned ‘greasy spoon’;

• Roast lamb in a Greek taverna;

• The distinctive aroma of a Parisian street café;

• The spice market in Istanbul;

• Toffee apples from a visiting fair;

To make them come alive, our characters need these evocative settings and what better device than using food as a backdrop. But don’t do as one budding novelist did. Her male lead was a bit of a ‘foodie’ and whenever he and the heroine got together there was a complete menu offered up at every encounter, complete with a vintage wine! By chapter six I was feeling distinctly queasy and by the end of the book both characters would have weighed in at least 20 stone! Not ‘over-egging the pudding’ is a culinary hint worth remembering in fiction writing.

When writing period pieces, it’s also worth studying books of etiquette for the period, which can provide hours of entertainment and offer all sorts of ideas for domestic incidents that will make the characters more convincing. The newly-wed wife who entertains her in-laws for the first time; a young man’s first formal ball; covering up a servant’s mistake; the ordeal of the ballroom. There are still old books on etiquette to be found through second-hand booksellers that give advice on such

matters. Such as: The Book of Etiquette by Lady Troubridge. First published in 1926 and remained in print until the 6th impression in 1976. Etiquette for Gentlemen and Etiquette for Ladies from Ward

Lock. Not dated so probably a much earlier version than the above. The Gentlemen warns that ‘a man may forgive you for breaking his daughter’s heart, but never for breaking his hunter’s neck!’

Etiquette by Emily Post (1922) for the American version of acceptable manners, which vary slightly from the English and often more draconian. The books also contain valuable information on what to serve and when … ‘Second helpings are not offered at dinner-parties’ … as well as suggested menus for afternoon tea, informal luncheons, batchelor dinners, etc., and more importantly how to eat them.

Food can add splashes of colour to a story. Did you know, for example that although bread, ale, meat and fish were the staple diet of medieval England, fish often came from as far away as

Iceland, and as early as 1480 over 100,000 oranges were being imported? Where did this snippet come from? Food & Feast in Medieval England by Peter Hammond, who is author on several

academic books of the period. Imagine a romantic interlude whereby the heroine tastes her first orange; or meets the stranger who accompanies the Icelandic catch …

Another Sutton title, Memory, Wisdom & Healing: The History of Domestic Plant Medicine by Gabrielle Hatfield, chronicles the historic use of plants by ordinary people for coughs and colds,

cuts and bruises, burns and other everyday ills. The author is an Honorary Research Associate at the Royal Botanic Gardens whose research on domestic plant remedies won her the Michaelis-Jena Ratcliff Prize for Folklore. Imagine how this sort of information on domestic plant medicine could enrich a story – past or present.

Similarly, Dutch Egyptologist Lise Manniche gives us An Ancient Egyptian Herbal and Sacred Luxuries: Fragrance, Aromatherapy and Cosmetics in Ancient Egypt. The first title includes the use of plants in the garden, home and kitchen, as well as those used in medicine; the second focuses on the importance of perfumes and cosmetics. Imagine your ancient Egyptian heroine experimenting with a new cosmetic … in just the same way as a 2012 teenager trying out a new Boots’ eye shadow.

While kicking all these ideas around in our head, let’s think for a moment about the run-away foodie success of Joanne Harris’s novel, Chocolat, that reflected the not so subtle conflict between the ‘solemnity of the church’ in provincial France, and a pagan hedonistic delight of chocolate. A whole novel woven around the wicked little cocoa bean!  A writer’s characters can’t live by bread alone!

Handy Hint:

Don’t be afraid of using academic books for source material. You’ll often come across information not generally available to add zest to your story. You’ll also find that academics are more generous with their time and less precious about their copyright than commercial authors. If you require further information or clarification of a particular point, an emeritus professor of history will generally be more than happy to provide the material you require.

Try This Exercise:

In Chapter One we casually mentioned the idea of creating a ‘sports luncheon’ for the ladies while the men are glued to the television, participating in, or off watching the event. Try creating an article or short story featuring a lunch to coincide with a major sporting event – Ryder Cup (golf); Cheltenham Gold Cup (racing); Grand Prix (motor racing); Test Match (cricket); Cup Final (football); Twickenham (rugby) – that you might offer to a women’s magazine or a sporting publication.