Tuesday 19 February 2008

Slow going

Chapter 18 has reached 2000 words, whoopee-do. I am still in that odd mood with it – such as this morning I suddenly decided it was imperative to writing conditions for me to tidy my office/spare room/the bit in the flat that I appear to live in. In fact I tidied it to the point of dusting; this was how desperate I was to avoid writing anything. Next I’ll be ironing… *shudders dramatically*

I rewrote the nasty effort I did yesterday, and then I sat for a while with an actual pen sketching how I think this chapter will pan out. It is that whole thing of seeing a complete picture again; from the shoes they are wearing to the news headlines of the day – no matter whether or not I mention any of it. I’ve gone for 1964 by the way – it was the lyrics to I Feel Fine by The Beatles that swung it, although that means my wedding (well, the character’s wedding) is now set in December (as that is when the single was released) which was a bit wet and chilly. Perfect wedding conditions, no?

But… is life perfect? This is a real story, at least, to me – and weddings are not always glitz and glam. Still, I am not totally sure about the date… which I think is one of the main reasons I’m not happy. Why would people get married in December? I can imagine some circumstances might dictate it, or perhaps people wanted to be unusual… but I think sort of March – October are prime wedding months – December feels a bit… perhaps too different, at least for these characters. And what about pictures?

Oh – actually though… hmm. Perhaps it does fit in after all. I'll stick with it for now!

2 comments:

music obsessive said...

Fab! You've gone for 1964 - you won't regret it! Oh, you already have...
I knew someone who married in December - it pissed down all day, but they are still happy all these years later. Don't raise your expectations I say.
I'm also fascinated by your writing a linear story where you start at the beginning and then work through it. Because my book is non fiction I was able to work on about three chapters at once and often did. You always had a choice as to which bit you felt like working on. You don't really have that option which seems strange to me. Not sure I fancy this fiction lark - sounds too difficult!

Jayne said...

Yes, it would be very hard to write this out of synch, I can imagine I would end up with very disjointed chapters, and have to do some serious welding to get the ends to tie in! I have to write linear, in a way the story has to unfold for me the same as it would for anyone else. It always fascinates me that most TV shows & film is shot out of synch, I can understand the reasons why, but from a story telling point of view it would do my head in!

And the more I write, the happier I am with December 1964. Good choice! Thanks!