Sunday 28 November 2010

Relationships (thank you Adam Phillips...)

If you've got a situation in your head, a plot that is growing satisfactorily out of it and one or two strong characters who are gradually taking shape, but you are still in the process of teasing out the central relationships, you could do much worse than get hold of a copy of Monogamy by the psychotherapist Adam Phillips. This is a fascinating, elliptical exploration of why relationships go wrong and why monogamy has infidelity built into it (and many other fascinating themes and ideas).

I devoured it soon after it was published (roundabout 1995, I think, and it is still available on Amazon) and scribbled down hundreds of notes and quotations which I still consult when I'm feeling stumped or looking for inspiration.

You might like to try this one for size: "The things about people that we fall in love with are often the things that end up driving us mad." There's a whole short story just in this single sentence, right there for the taking...

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