Of Swiss mountains and Australian vistas
Always nice to add another country to our list of entries, which is what we were able to do when one came in from Switzerland at the end of last week. By my reckoning, that makes 15 countries, and five continents, represented so far.
The presence of writers from such diverse countries does indicate that writing is a truly international pastime.
What has been interesting to read is the way many of those writers use local colour, giving their stories an added power for the reader.
The trick with using local colour is to regard it like everything else in writing, as a tool which allows the writer a means to an end.
It is not enough to write about a place, exotic as it may be. There has to be, in my view, something more for the reader, a sense of drama, tension, of something happening or about to happen.
So, for instance, if you an Australian writer, depicting the vast outback is a powerful tool: add someone lost in the midst of it or two people in conflict hundreds of miles from the nearest town, and it becomes absolutely irresistible.
John Dean April 14