I'm in a position kind of like Lori. I've had some interesting thoughts about where to take Valerie in her new life in Florida, but the words aren't getting set down yet because I went research-crazy (fuck the Internet! love the Internet!).
I was thinking about Valerie living in her uncle J's old trailer, and while I had fun describing it initially, I can't see her staying there permanently. I think it will be a struggle for her to let it go, in all likelihood, but she'll go eventually. Where? That's when the Internet possessed me. I decided that her little tiny town would have a row of shotgun cottages, and she will buy and perhaps renovate one of them. This led me on a delicious wild goose chase through history and floorplans and all sorts of dreamy ideas.
The upshot is that I didn't actually write anything down. None of these events would happen naturally in chapter two. But at the least, I feel like I have more pieces of the puzzle now, and that's a step in the right direction.
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Kiki, I vividly remember using a full hour of writing time one evening a couple of months ago researching clerical vestments for Catholic priests. And it was for a scene that I ended up not even writing. But it was fun, and any kind of background information is useful, I think; it gives your mind more places to go.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about none of these events happening in chapter two reminds me of the way one of my favorite authors (Diana Gabaldon) writes - she says she doesn't write in chapters, one step at a time - she writes in "nuggets", where there's an image or a scene that comes to her and she worries about how to connect it - or if she should even use it - later. Which I thought was fascinating and if I weren't so far along in my project I'd be tempted to do myself. Maybe next time.
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