Saturday 14 January 2012

Research, research (0, 500, 400, 900, 0, 400)

We've been away on the first holiday we've had in 2 years. I missed the Internet. Questions about archaeology, listed building consents and Bembridge kept cropping up. So, when I can't easily write, I want to. Now I'm back, not so much, though I did find the opening scene of the book (at last). I'm drowning in Tudor history and excavation methods.

Hookline have a first novel competition running, and since Mslexia are now going to take an extra month to judge, I'm preparing Borrowed Time for that one, while I work on novel 2. I know I'm moaning about it, but I do have some sort of plan and have about ten thousand words. It's writing itself, I'm trying to slow the process to allow the ideas to develop. I have an idea - like a baby's body in an archaeological dig. Then it became an old well, then finally, the bodies of a woman and a baby (unrelated) and more questions are asked. That's the point my planning has reached now - who is the woman in the well? How did she get there? Why is someone else's baby with her? I know who the baby is, anyway, and her parents. Now my modern day heroine has to work it all out, as I do. I'm trying to reduce the rewriting and pace problems I normally end up with. My plan is to refine book 2 for the Good Housekeeping competition so am trying to get a gripping start to the novel. The difficult bit, for me, is trying to find a really good first line.

Oh, I'm also realising I can't read my own blog easily, so am increasing the font size!

1 comment:

  1. I'm glad you've made the print bigger!
    Best wishes.

    ReplyDelete

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