"I'm a storyteller and my story must be told..."
Part two of the seminal Art of the Storyteller series of workshops. Also episode 7 of my videoblog series.
This week I talk about the next Art, that of Location.
How does the place you choose affect both how your stories develop and your characters behaviour?
True fans may notice that I very interntionally left one location out of this little video. Partly due to time pressures, also due to me wanting to see whether you're actually paying attention or not. Bonus points to those of your who came back to check!!
I left out *drum roll*.....That's right! My current home of Santo Domingo! Now, why did I choose the Dominican Republic and Santo Domingo to crash land the directionless and lost Skander? Was it simply because I live here or was there more to it than that? Yes! Oh, sorry, yes there was.
Allow me to explain. I noticed many things about this place when I arrived here, other things after I'd been here for a while. This is a very good place to disappear, a very good place to be anonymous in, a very good place to develop the dark yet contradictory Skander I wanted to develop. It allowed the natural talents of Skander to shine through, his true nature to reveal itself and a few jokes to be cracked and much enjoyed. It allowed me to do things I could not do in any other country I was familiar with.
Be assured, none of that I wrote about here is an entire exaggeration. I missed out a fair bit and played down others. Murders are common here, 97 women have been killed by a current or former partner this year alone. My eldest son was asked at gunpoint to surrender his cellphone. The best part was that his phone is cheap and broken and the would be robber decided to let him keep it, God bless him! This is not a completely nice place to live. We need politicians like him in reality. Ones which don't get assassinated of course! Truth is though that if we really had a politician like Skander here, they would shoot him or something. Corrupt when used in reference to a politician here is actually an understatement. La Loma de Chivo is a real place and the people Skander talks to are based on real people, name an situations are changed a little. Skander's profession is also a very real one, as are how late payers are dealt with.
This place gave me the idea soil into which to drop the seed of Skander who was, just a twinkle in his Daddy's eye and just a vague idea before the fertile earth here made him blossom! Many of you may know that I had never planned my Novellas at all. It had finished my Collections and was going to start work on the novels themselves when I had my idea, a silly one, of Alexander the Great waking up in my hood almost, this strange and contradictory land and running for mayor. I then dropped some of his closest friends in on him and - very intentionally - left some out. Korax and Lupernikes; yes it was intentional!! Ha! Eat that Spartan!
In short, this place gave me the inspiration which had evaded me for years; a way to link everything together. my five Novellas which made everything else make sense and the actual Hegemony Trilogy a reality. That it also gave me my wife and my daughters is clearly a large chunk of how it inspired me!
Thanks for reading, I shan't ber sharing this part on FB, etc. in order to avoid spamming accusations, if you find this little gem it's because you love me and I bless you for it!
Thanks for being a true fan ;)
Alan
PS, keep your eyes open for these 'secret posts' over the coming weeks. Why? Just do...it'll be worth it, I promise. OK? Shhhhh
