Monday Motivation: The writer as voyeur

 In Monday Motivation, Richard Beynon's blog, Tips for Writers

“I’m in London in a hotel listening to a couple behind me about to embark on an affair. It’s very exciting. I noted him putting his wedding ring in his pocket in the elevator on the way back from the loos…”

So begins a short story, purportedly based on the writer’s real-time observations, and reported in a series of tweets that were as riveting as anything I’ve read on social media recently.

The writer is called Liz Nugent, an Irish author with four crime novels to her credit, the latest of which is called Our Little Cruelties.

I’m not sure how her tweets came to my attention, but I was sufficiently intrigued by that first one, to read on:

“Her: ‘I know we should talk about this but you are one of my best friends even though we only know each other such a short time.’”

Mmm. I’m already starting to develop theories about what’s going on here. Is the woman a con-artist? Her speech is just off kilter enough to have me believe her an Eastern European, perhaps even a Russian. I read on:

“He’s just ordered more wine. She is asking him how his relationship with x is. He was taken aback. She admits she googled him and knows he’s married.”

Aha. What sort of woman does a little research on someone she’s only known for a short time? My suspicions harden. I read on:

“He said he and his wife have ‘grown apart’. He has moved his chair to be closer to her. ‘It’s difficult.’”

Fast operator. He’s clearly been bamboozled. Not that he’s a particularly admirable character.  The evidence: slipping off his wedding ring. I read on:

“Feck, my taxi is due soon. Is it worth missing my flight to get to the bottom of this story?”

OMG, this introduces a ticking clock into the drama. We only have a few minutes to work out what’s going on, and where it might go to. Great story-telling technique. I read on:

“I risked a look while pretending to look at a painting. THEY ARE HOLDING HANDS. And drinking wine on a Weds afternoon.”

Ms Nugent can’t resist her novelist’s instincts to gather information. I read on:

“She said ‘I wouldn’t normally be so frank with a married man.’ They are right behind me. Am I invisible? Tempted to wade in and berate them both.”

The author should never reveal herself to her characters for fear their behaviour will be affected. But check out that admission: “I wouldn’t normally be so frank with a married man.” Doesn’t that suggest that she’s in the habit of meeting men for casual liaisons? I read on:

“Her last relationship was two years ago. ‘He was violent.’ God, I’m so conflicted. She deserves better than that. But she also deserves better than a married man. Although he has said nothing negative about his wife. Eight minutes to taxi. I NEED A RESOLUTION.”

Ha! The easiest way to establish intimacy is to claim victimhood. I am more and more convinced that this is a con in the making. I read on, entranced:

“She’s crying. I’m crying.”

Really? Tears are the most accessible tools a confidence trickster has at her disposal.

“I just snorted into a tissue. They’re whispering now. I’ve ruined it all. He doesn’t seem like a bad man. And she’s lovely. Sometimes you can tell by tone of voice.”

“‘I’m in therapy,’ she said. ‘I should be,’ he said.”

Ms Nugent has been sucked in by the drama of the situation, and by the apparent honesty of both parties.

“‘We shouldn’t be doing this,’ he said. FUCKKKKK. My taxi is outside. I have to go.”

He shouldn’t be doing this – but he’s going to anyway. And my bet is that it will end in tears. And although we seem to have run out of time, I read on:

“I’m in the taxi. You have to make up your own ending. I know far more identifiable info than I’m telling. I wish them both the best. He might have seemed sleazy (ring in pocket) but he listened to her and some people just marry the wrong people.”

Well, that was a great piece of legerdemain. A fine piece of flash fiction (or non-fiction) crafted specifically for social media. The fact that she was able to identify the two characters makes nonsense of my hypothesis. Oh, well, win some…

Were you convinced by either character? Or did you just enjoy eavesdropping along with Ms Nugent?

Happy writing,

Richard

P.S. In return for using Liz Nugent’s story in this week’s Motivation, I bought Our Little Cruelties and will let you know my response to it.

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