The start point for my books is often a location. Sometimes just being in a beautiful or interesting place makes me want to write about it. Sometimes the place itself triggers the idea for a book or a character. Either way it’s a good excuse to go back there to do more research.

Here’s five reasons why..

1. Being in the location lets you inhabit your characters’ life

Kurinji Flowers, my second novel, is set in 1930s India in a tea plantation in the Western Ghats. Staying in a 1930s tea plantation manager’s bungalow was a perfect way to start to live and breathe the world and way of life of my characters. For example the sounds they wake up to each morning, the sights they would have seen, the smell of the tea fermenting in the factory, the colours of the landscape, the taste of the food.

2. It helps you to be factually accurate

A guaranteed way to lose credibility with readers is to make factual errors. Returning from 2 weeks in India I’d previously assumed when the kurinji bloomed (once every twelve years) it would only be visible up in the high grasslands – until one of the locals told me you could see it from the veranda of the bungalow. A tiny detail but one that makes a big difference to my character – it means she cannot avoid seeing it – and hence being reminded of what it means to her.

3. Tiny details help you build a believable world

What are the plants and trees growing there? How do people talk? How it feels when the rains come. What elephants’ dung looks like. The experience of a firefly in your bedroom at night. What it’s like to be woken at five thirty every morning by the siren wakening the tea workers. What wild honey hives look like.
I borrowed names from some of the people I met – so I know they’ll be appropriate to the locale.

4. A chance to find new ideas and inspiration

Just being in a place that’s far from normal distractions and soaking in the world of your book helps you think about it in a different way. I came up with a completely new character who helps create some more dramatic tension. I invented two new scenes that give the key players more scope to develop. I also cut out huge chunks – happily killing my darlings.

5. Get away from it all

I’m a great believer in writing retreats – I used to go to Retreats for You down in Devon in order to write. Now I often go to somewhere free of distractions – including the internet in order to focus solely on writing. Removing yourself  from your usual environment can have an electrifying effect on inspiration and output. One of the big pluses of an organised writer’s retreat is not having to worry about day to day life or be interrupted constantly.