MARGARET GEORGE WRITES IN A TRANCE

Margaret George, best selling historical writer, told the participants at the Historical Novel Society Conference in Schaumburg, Illinois, on June 12, that she attempts to self-hypnotize herself to become her historical characters. She surrounds herself with sights and sounds which will lead her into this state--the music of the time, the perfumes or other scents, the objects such as jewellry which, for her, evoke the character. She blocks out the modern world as much as possible, removing all those things that would break the desired spell.

It was a revelation to me to learn that George's wonderful novels, The Autobiography of Henry VIII, The Memoirs of Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Mary Called Magdalene and others, were not only based on meticulous historical research but also on a desire to connect mentally with her subjects, to become them, to feel them, to time travel toward them.

The audience of 240 , most of them historical writers, seemed intrigued by her writing method. I had never considered trying to get in touch with my characters and others agreed with me. But a surprising number told me they used mood music, put up pictures of their characters or found suitable pictures on the Internet. At my table, one woman admitted feeling she was entering an altered state when she was writing, experiencing a shock when the outside world intruded. "The spell is broken," she said.

So maybe Margaret Atwood is right. Writing is an unknowable experience.