On getting back into writing after the festive season ...
I’ve been absent from Words Unlimited these last few months for the best of reasons - I'm writing a new novel and it’s taken me over. It seems to be writing me!
A research trip in November took me away from my desk with a chance to gather information about my main character's location, and much else. Back from the trip I let it all sit in a heap on the shelf. Trawling through it, as I get back to writing this first week of the New Year, I find I’m buzzing with new scenes and ways to develop my character.
It reminds me, yet again, [why is it that so much of writing is about re-inventing the wheel?] that research always leads somewhere. If you’re wondering how to get back to a project after the holidays is it because you need to do some research?
The thing to remember is that you’re not researching as if for a PhD, you need only to find nuggets that trigger the imagination and help you to grow authentic scenes. Instead of sitting there staring at a blank screen why not visit your location – actually or virtually [Googlemaps/Earth?].
Is there one tiny detail you didn’t see before? How might your character respond to that?
On my trip, I was able to photocopy a detailed street map from the Thirties which now means I have an accurate sense of my main character's world - the streets I need for my book were demolished in the 1960s.
This old school photo was a gem of a find. It helps re-build a crucial six months in my character’s past. I couldn’t copy it but I did photograph it in sections on my mobile phone – the phone camera is fast becoming a ‘notebook’ for me. It's from 1930. Looking at it today, what interests me is the teacher, second from left, with her asymmetrical jacket and those square buttons. Also, the girl in the centre of the photo – she is the only one in about 500 girls with ringlets – I’d swear her hair is red … with just these few details I’m eager to get them into my story, to see these details through the eyes of my character.
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