Writers Need Estate Agents! And, On An Associated Topic, Know Your Scenarios Inside Out

Admittedly it's a strange statement, but for a planner-style writer, it's important to know your story's scenarios and settings inside out.

While writing my novel 'Life’s A Mess, And Then You Die', I did a specific form of research. If you’ve read this book or heard me talk about it, you’ll know that one of the ‘scenario/characters’ in the book is a large and horribly hoarded home.

I needed to describe a hoarded house, both with respect to the hoard and with respect to the structure and feel of the home underneath its hoard.

This home didn’t appear directly in my mind out of the ether. It actually arrived in my story through the magical medium of online estate agents like Right Move, and through one particular canal-side home for sale.

The estate agent's pictures showed a house that was nicely furnished and not hoarded, so I knew the place's layout and how it would look if it were cleared.

So, consistency came more easily.

I knew how my characters would get into the house, the position of the stairs, and the formation of rooms and hallways.

I didn’t need to imagine a damn thing. It was all there waiting for me to describe.

Try to find ways like this to enhance your writing!