Chiswick W4 Review and Character Writing in Spades

Chiswick W4 is a very popular website and newsletter and I was delighted with this coverage:

http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=trading&page=adcalumkerr001.htm

“Dirty Money Terrible People” is my first work of fiction and a number of people have asked me if it was hard to write. Well, I can tell you the opposite is true. I loved every minute; apart from the minutes or should I say the hours or more accurately the weeks, amending it after the editor sent the manuscript back to me! 

I had no idea that I would enjoy writing it so much. Unlike my experience with non-fiction you can make up fiction as you go along. I had some ideas in my head that, very loosely, reflected some of my experiences in financial services and some characters that would be based on people I have met over the past fifty years. Those characters were very helpful as when I created them I knew how they would respond. I know this might sound strange but it really worked for me. Let me give you one example:

Jenny Yamamoto, my partner in crime, was kind enough to look at extracts from the book from time to time and commented that “In that meeting all the partners sound the same. I got confused” I immediately thought of a partner who was unique. Very senior, very wise, respected by one and all. A wonderful man who didn’t call a “spade a spade”. He called a “spade a fucking spade”. And all I had to do was see his face and write down what I knew he would have said.  I can see him now!

Anyway, I can honestly say that, so far, I have never sat down in front of my screen without knowing what I wanted to write. And in my next blog I will try and explain how that happens.