How Christie Wrote Plotting and notebooks Agatha Christie said she never knew where the ideas for a new novel would spring from "Plots come to me at such odd moments,when I am walking along the street,or examining a hat shop...suddenly a splendid idea comes into my head." Christie's inspiration came from the world she knew.She drew on the military gentlemen,lords and ladies,spinsters,widows and doctors of her family's circle of friends.A natural observer,her descriptions of village politics,local rivalries and family jealousies are often painfully accurate.Her grandson,Mathew Prichard,has described her as"a person who listened more than she talked,who saw more than she was seen." Historian C.V.Wedgwood wrote of Christie:"Her social settings,her characters and her dialogue are always accurately observed.There is no better all-round craftsman in the field." She made notes in dozens of notebooks,jotting down ideas and potential plots and characters as they came to her.Christie spent her time working out all the details and clues in her head before putting pen to paper.Her son-in-law,Anthony Hicks,once said,"You never saw her writing,she never shut herself away,like other writers do." In the early days,Christie dictated her works to an assistant who would type up manuscripts for editing-in later years,Christie recorded her thoughts into the precursor of the tape recorder-a Dictabel It was often the most everyday events and casual observations which triggered a new plot.Her second book The Secret Adversary stemmed from a conversation overheard in a tea shop.Murder on the Links was prompted by a newspaper article about a suspicious death in France.A theatre trip to see the actress Ruth Draper led her to write Lord Edgware Dies.Her notebooks make fascinating reading and the seeds for several stories are easily identified.In 1963 her notebook held details of a plot in development: "West Indian book-Miss M?Poirot...B&E apparently devoted-actually B and G(Georgina) had affair for years...old 'frog'Major knows-has seen him before-he is killed." A Caribbean Mystery was published in 1964 with the"Old Frog"the first victim.The Caribbean island is beautifully described and was probably based on St.Lucia,an island Christie had visited on holiday. Another entry begins,"Miss M,train coming from London to Reading?Man strangles a woman. The train was?3.55,3.19."Of course we now know it was the 4:50 From Paddington but many of the hundreds of plots,red herrings and suspects from her fertile imagination never made it to print.As Agatha Christie said: "Nothing turns out quite in the way that you thought it would when you are sketching out notes for the first chapter,or walking about muttering to yourself and seeing a story unroll." Inspired by travel Anybody who feels they are taking for granted the ease,speed and comfort of modern travel should read my grandmother's letter concerning her return on the Orient Express to England in 1931,which can be found in Janet Morgan's excellent biography:"The journey began in a
How Christie Wrote Plotting and notebooks Agatha Christie said she never knew where the ideas for a new novel would spring from: “Plots come to me at such odd moments, when I am walking along the street, or examining a hat shop… suddenly a splendid idea comes into my head.” Christie’s inspiration came from the world she knew. She drew on the military gentlemen, lords and ladies, spinsters, widows and doctors of her family’s circle of friends. A natural observer, her descriptions of village politics, local rivalries and family jealousies are often painfully accurate. Her grandson, Mathew Prichard, has described her as “a person who listened more than she talked, who saw more than she was seen.” Historian C.V. Wedgwood wrote of Christie: “Her social settings, her characters and her dialogue are always accurately observed. There is no better all-round craftsman in the field.” She made notes in dozens of notebooks, jotting down ideas and potential plots and characters as they came to her. Christie spent her time working out all the details and clues in her head before putting pen to paper. Her son-in-law, Anthony Hicks, once said, “You never saw her writing, she never shut herself away, like other writers do.” In the early days, Christie dictated her works to an assistant who would type up manuscripts for editing – in later years, Christie recorded her thoughts into the precursor of the tape recorder – a Dictabel. It was often the most everyday events and casual observations which triggered a new plot. Her second book The Secret Adversary stemmed from a conversation overheard in a tea shop. Murder on the Links was prompted by a newspaper article about a suspicious death in France. A theatre trip to see the actress Ruth Draper led her to write Lord Edgware Dies. Her notebooks make fascinating reading and the seeds for several stories are easily identified. In 1963 her notebook held details of a plot in development: “West Indian book – Miss M? Poirot . . . B & E apparently devoted – actually B and G (Georgina) had affair for years . . . old ‘frog’ Major knows – has seen him before – he is killed.” A Caribbean Mystery was published in 1964 with the “Old Frog” the first victim. The Caribbean island is beautifully described and was probably based on St. Lucia, an island Christie had visited on holiday. Another entry begins, “Miss M, train coming from London to Reading? Man strangles a woman. The train was? 3.55, 3.19.” Of course we now know it was the 4:50 From Paddington but many of the hundreds of plots, red herrings and suspects from her fertile imagination never made it to print. As Agatha Christie said: “Nothing turns out quite in the way that you thought it would when you are sketching out notes for the first chapter, or walking about muttering to yourself and seeing a story unroll.” Inspired by travel Anybody who feels they are taking for granted the ease, speed and comfort of modern travel should read my grandmother’s letter concerning her return on the Orient Express to England in 1931, which can be found in Janet Morgan’s excellent biography: “The journey began in a
thunderstorm,experienced floods,heating breakdowns,border delays and hardships of every kind and eventually arrived on Wednesday instead of Monday...Never was hardship put to better use." The characters on the train and indeed the train itself were moulded into one of the most evocative stories she ever wrote.What do I admire most about this?Two things-first the meticulous accuracy of the plot welded around the layout of the train and people moving around it;and then the tolerance and understanding with which all the characters on the train are treated,whether they are royalty or restaurant-car conductors.Somehow it makes the eventual denouement much more plausible.Murder on the Orient Express was a classic,and in many ways Death on the Nile was similarly conceived except of course this time the crime scene was on a boat-allied with the background of Egyptian splendour.Once again,the layout on board the boat is meticulously observed and crucial for a proper understanding of the plot. In the mid 1970s,of course,two splendid films of these books were made.Their producers, script-writers,directors and actors led by Lord John Brabourne,himself a fanatical train enthusiast, co-operated wholeheartedly in the recreation not only of the stories themselves but of the oriental atmosphere that pervades them.Nobody who has seen the film of Orient Express will forget the scenes of Stanboul station,with oranges falling off carts and merchants chasing passengers,or the heart-stopping moment when the whistle blows and the magnificent old steam engine belches smoke and draws out the station Inspired by archaeology Appointment with Death and Murder in Mesopotamia were created from the surroundings of the archaeological digs themselves.The first one is based in Petra and was nicknamed Rose Red Murder and the second revolves around Chagar Bazar and Ur.Both books contain many characters loosely based on Nima and Max's archaeological friends and helpers,and apparently the books,when they appeared,were eagerly scanned by the participants.Murder is Mesopotamia is indeed dedicated to"my many archaeological friends in Irag and Syria".Not all were pleased, but history does not relate whether this was because the people concerned were,or were not, characterised in the books! Undoubtedly the tour de force of Nima's oriental writings was Death Comes as the End(written in 1943 as I was born!)This is a story set in ancient Egypt with ancient Egyptian characters and is a dark,brooding tale with a family that falls into disarray when Imhotep,a wealthy widowed priest and farmer from ancient Thebes,imports a new and thoroughly evil concubine called Nofret.The book is full of violent murder,cunning poisoning and intrigue.It is impeccably researched,with the help of an old friend of Max's called Stephen Glanville,and is particularly clever because although there is quite enough authenticity to transport the reader convincingly back to ancient Thebes,the intrigue and plotting would certainly not be out of place in the twentieth century Without Hercule Poirot,or Miss Marple,this book has never been famous,nor the fastest seller, but I think it is one of Nima's finest achievements. See more about Christie,please click http://www.agathachristie.com If you love games and puzzles,please click http://www.worldoffreegames.com/
thunderstorm, experienced floods, heating breakdowns, border delays and hardships of every kind and eventually arrived on Wednesday instead of Monday... Never was hardship put to better use.” The characters on the train and indeed the train itself were moulded into one of the most evocative stories she ever wrote. What do I admire most about this? Two things – first the meticulous accuracy of the plot welded around the layout of the train and people moving around it; and then the tolerance and understanding with which all the characters on the train are treated, whether they are royalty or restaurant-car conductors. Somehow it makes the eventual denouement much more plausible. Murder on the Orient Express was a classic, and in many ways Death on the Nile was similarly conceived except of course this time the crime scene was on a boat - allied with the background of Egyptian splendour. Once again, the layout on board the boat is meticulously observed and crucial for a proper understanding of the plot. In the mid 1970s, of course, two splendid films of these books were made. Their producers, script-writers, directors and actors led by Lord John Brabourne, himself a fanatical train enthusiast, co-operated wholeheartedly in the recreation not only of the stories themselves but of the oriental atmosphere that pervades them. Nobody who has seen the film of Orient Express will forget the scenes of Stanboul station, with oranges falling off carts and merchants chasing passengers, or the heart-stopping moment when the whistle blows and the magnificent old steam engine belches smoke and draws out the station. Inspired by archaeology Appointment with Death and Murder in Mesopotamia were created from the surroundings of the archaeological digs themselves. The first one is based in Petra and was nicknamed Rose Red Murder and the second revolves around Chagar Bazar and Ur. Both books contain many characters loosely based on Nima and Max’s archaeological friends and helpers, and apparently the books, when they appeared, were eagerly scanned by the participants. Murder is Mesopotamia is indeed dedicated to “my many archaeological friends in Iraq and Syria”. Not all were pleased, but history does not relate whether this was because the people concerned were, or were not, characterised in the books! Undoubtedly the tour de force of Nima’s oriental writings was Death Comes as the End (written in 1943 as I was born!) This is a story set in ancient Egypt with ancient Egyptian characters and is a dark, brooding tale with a family that falls into disarray when Imhotep, a wealthy widowed priest and farmer from ancient Thebes, imports a new and thoroughly evil concubine called Nofret. The book is full of violent murder, cunning poisoning and intrigue. It is impeccably researched, with the help of an old friend of Max’s called Stephen Glanville, and is particularly clever because although there is quite enough authenticity to transport the reader convincingly back to ancient Thebes, the intrigue and plotting would certainly not be out of place in the twentieth century. Without Hercule Poirot, or Miss Marple, this book has never been famous, nor the fastest seller, but I think it is one of Nima’s finest achievements. See more about Christie, please click http://www.agathachristie.com If you love games and puzzles, please click http://www.worldoffreegames.com/
