This week’s post is a little short because I am away again – more about that on Thursday, I imagine!
After last week’s frustration about what exactly to do with the woods novel, I did what my heart told me. I stopped trying to revise what I had to make it work, and I started writing new chapters.
I think it was inevitable, really. The changes I had planned way back in the summer just didn’t fit what I was trying to do – which was revise each chapter to remove substantial elements and replace them. The further I got into the story the more complex the changes were becoming, and the more untidy the work became.
So I have started working on a new, unblemished, section to replace the messy and half-revised middle. It feels good, even knowing my timetable is yet again a pointless distraction – I am not going to rush to finish before Christmas.
Other than that, I’ve also been doing a lot of note taking in the last few days, filling up my notebooks for the new year. It’s great to feel I have plenty of projects, whether they are poems, short stories or plans for novels in the future. I know some things will never be used but the more options I give myself, the more chance of doing something that is really effective.
I thoroughly recommend building a portfolio of ideas for the future.
In other news – back to the 100 best novels list. We’re up to number 12, which is Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë . It’s another one I can tick off my list; I studied it, in fact, back in my schooldays. I wasn’t over-keen at the time but it did encourage me to read both Wuthering Heights (by Emily Brontë) and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (by Anne Brontë) so it had a positive impact on my reading choices.
That’s it for this week, as I have to get back to my socialising!
Happy writing,
EJ
🙂
