I’ve just finished writing group and this week has been all about researching sleep disorders (don’t ask!!) so I haven’t really read through this post – apologies if it’s a bit of a jumble!
This week I went to a cathedral for a meeting about something I’m working on outside of my writing – which got me thinking about something very much concerned with writing.
I am influenced by my writing environment: information-gathering, note-taking and recording are often more successful when I write outside. So as we wandered in the cathedral precinct I noted the grey stone walls, shrunken by losses over the years; I saw the moss softening edges and clinging to crumbling mortar. I investigated the gateways from one age to another, the green grass tamed into submission over years.
But I couldn’t think of anything new to do with this scene. I’ve written it before – in poetry as well as indirectly in stories. I have explored age, and texture, colour and silence. I hit a wall in how to use something in new ways.
What do you do when this happens? What do you do when you can’t find anything new in a scene?
Well, I’ve decided to do two things. The first is to stop thinking about it as a problem – I don’t need to use this setting or scene for anything right now, so why worry? The second is to use the lack as the catalyst for an idea. It fits beautifully with a story twist I am considering in the new novel, and those feelings of frustration and disappointment are at my fingertips ready to feed my descriptions in the story.
So the moral of the story? When you can’t see the wood for the trees, write about the search.
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There’s no book challenge update this week but I’m hoping to finish the current book tomorrow…
Until next time – happy writing
EJ
🙂
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