Does anyone else put personal 'nuggets' in their writing?

[ratsy]

Well thank you to everyone for your comments. I don't think I'd heard anyone here talk about this topic so I was thinking maybe I was the only one doing it.

 

[HareBrain]

I don't do any of that. It would feel like breaking the fourth wall, if only to myself.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I haven't done it either -- but I might try it sometime. Sounds like fun.

 

[Locrian]

Oh, if we're talking references all of the Captains of ships in my WIP are named after rock stars real names.

 

[Tony Iommi]

Yes I put nuggets in from my fav films or little easter eggs only me or my missus world know.. In my novel I've used my flat and the local area.. Changed the name though

 

[Gonk the Insane]

I occasionally put in obscure musical references, which tickles my Dad when he finds them.

Well-known authors slip in the occasional nugget, too. In Simon R Green's Secret Histories series there's occasional references to a bar called The Hawk's Wind Bar & Grill. I'm pretty sure it's a reference to Space Rock pioneers Hawkwind, and it always raises a chuckle when I read it. That said, references to it only occur in low-energy scenes away from the heart of the action, so I find it doesn't detract from the story.

 

[Glitch]

Each of my stories do contain these little nuggets as you call them. Although they are not necessarily there for people to find. So I don't know how many would actually make the connections.

 

[Jarshen]

Yeah, little things creep in though the conscious ones are always for me, if someone else gets them great but they're not there to be found as it were. Dialogue though is a minefield, so many lines from films and plays, hopefully I spot them.

 

[Susan Boulton]

Depends what you mean by nuggets.

Fragments of people (their habits, mannerisms and appearance) and places I know litter my work, always has.

The dog in Oracle is based on a dear friend’s, long gone to doggy heaven.

The train journeys are based on my childhood memories of such journeys on main line steam trains. The layout of the train crash is based on a terrible crash that happened in the 1960's. The remains of the stricken train lay in the field behind my school for weeks after. Some things you never quite forget.

The town house has aspects of Shurgborough Hall. The mill is Quarry Bank Mill at Styal.

My novel Hand of Glory (currently out on submission) is set in Stafford, but the Stafford of the 1920’s so some things are very different, but others are still the same. The characters in this book are a composite of various members of my grandparents’ generation and my parents. Their attitude, manners and reactions to situations. The war time actions of Corporal Adams are based on my grandfather’s. The police inspector’s house in its layout is a carbon copy of my late great aunt’s.

 

[Tim Murray]

I was thinking about my writing, and almost every piece has something special in it for my wife. She calls them nuggets. Does anyone else do this? It can be a name, and inside joke, or anything that a friend/family member/spouse will get that it's meant for them.

In my story 'The Power' coming out in Young Adventurers in December, I have a character named Mistress Ging (named after my pup)

In my new book, my MC's neighbour has a cocker spaniel, and he is going to be taking the cocker on his adventure with him.

Do you guys do things like this?

I put my cat in the second book.

 

[Dan Jones]

I think most writers would find themselves adding "nuggets" to their writing, if only because most of us have wells of rich experiences from which to draw ideas; even if the nuggets aren't for self-amusement, or as a gift to a particular reader, I find they're almost always there in some form. No work is entirely imagination; we draw on what we've seen or heard, or know.

I had a character (who ultimately was culled) from Jewels who was based on a jobsworth person from an office I was worked in. It was kind of my personal revenge for his petty holier-than-thou attitude. Another part of the novel used the phrase "Enter the Crypt" which was the title of a song by my brother's rock band. So yeah, they're there.

 

[Jeremy M. Gottwig]

In my story 'The Power' coming out in Young Adventurers in December....

I love the Young Adventurers project and supported both Kickstarters!

But to answer your question: sort of. I can't think of a specific time that I intentionally dropped an nugget into a story, but during editing, I often notice little things that I ripped straight out of my personal life. So I guess one could say that I inadvertently do this.

 

[ratsy]

Now that I've been thinking of it, I notice myself doing it a lot, but more just subtle things like DG said, from my personal experiences.

@Jeremy M. Gottwig I think that is a different anthology. This one is Young Adventurers: Heroes, Explorers, and Swashbucklers by Intrigue

 

[Andrew Lambert]

Amanda Walker returned from the bar with another bottle of the exquisitely fruity Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc. She was with her mother Ann at one of their favourite bars, drinking their favourite wine. It's odd name first attracted them to this elegant wine. On her budget, it wouldn't have been her first choice. But, as her mother would more than likely pick up the bill, she was delighted to partake. They didn’t find their diaries matching up these days anywhere near as much as they should, so they both treasured these girlie meet ups. They were within spitting distance of the House of Commons, in the Red Lion public house. There was an early evening buzz to the place with all sorts winding down after a hard day working in Westminster. Amanda tried to squeeze through a cordial group of men riveted to the story been told by a colleague. His voice was nearly as loud as his bright red corduroy trousers. A white silk shirt and a brown tweed waistcoat with a flaming red back tamed the trousers to acceptable office apparel - a little eccentric, but this was London. As he revealed the punch line to his story, Amanda almost had the bottle knocked out of her hand by one of the group. He immediately apologised to her and then gave Ann a little nod of apology too. Her mother smiled at him, and he turned back to his friends. Her mother, the Right Honourable Ann Walker MP was now a cabinet minister. Amanda knew this was one of the few places where she could sit with friends or family and blend into the background. Everyone here was leaving the highs and lows of the day behind and in the most part extended the same courtesy to others be they a famous politician or the office junior.

This is an opening paragraph in a chapter of my latest (and first) novel, laced with nuggets...
The bar was the one my girlfriend and I visited after I'd been invited to the House of Lords by my cancer charity. The outfit the loud man was wearing was one I bought the next day (though declined the red trousers). And the wine was one that we both had in Nice last year - I just loved the name!

 

[Luiglin]

I've used a favourite song line in the Dark Lord tale I'm working on around which a whole weird scene evolves. It's one of my fave songs but I've always thought about how the line could be spun on it's head. I've another fave line but "She had a west coast strut that was sweet as molasses" is a touch harder to fit in - although you never know

 

[Phyrebrat]

@ratsy SG (my SG, that is) has a specific reference to a red wood bridge

pH

 

[Tim Murray]

In my first novel, I used my parents first names and made myself a Naval Captain.

 

[The Bluestocking]

I named one of my supporting (possibly main) characters after a domestic violence victim in a very high-profile case. I named the character in honour of her - first name only. I run an anti-Violence Against Women charity and two generations of my family experienced domestic violence and a number of my friends are rape/sexual assault survivors. This is an embedded tribute to them.

My late little doggie will be making an appearance at some point as well - she'll be nicely built into the story in memory of the long hours she had spent keeping me company as I work and the love and bossiness that she radiated so effortlessly.

 

[Scarfy]

In all my books so far, I've inserted two things:

1. Someone will either eat or mention curry.

2. There will be a reference to Viz comic: In THE CURSED MAN, someone tells the MC not to be afraid of the sharks in the sea, as they are "the most pathetic sharks in the world". In THE DRAGON MISTRESS, two of the characters eat a meal at a place called "Hen Cabin".

 

[Verity]

I've put my old dog into a story too - belonging to my main character who is a bookseller. She doesn't do a lot, but she gives a lot of love!
And in the story I'm working on at the moment, my Steampunk character visits the Press Club in Manchester - where my gran once worked. So the waitress who brings them tea and scones is called Cissy, my gran's nickname.