Two characters - Luke and Baz - from what I thought was a completed trilogy, insisted their story had not yet been fully told. Told me things that happened in a tale written three years ago had something to do with them. Connections enough to hang another novel on.
They gave me a title - Drink with a dead man - to which I assigned an ISBN in early June. Sent me, care of Baz, a cryptic email, indicating the existence of new characters A and D. Allowed me to read a novel which suggested a way of incorporating A. Since then I've got to know A, a bit. D, despite my holding him up to several mirrors, is still distorted.
I've half-designed a cover and bought a dedicated notebook (not done that before) and have a rag bag into which I throw patchwork ideas as and when they arrive (even though I know some will never be put to use). I wake each morning, mentally select and tack together, a nine-patch square. But when I rise, ready to make permanent, they fade or clash or fail to fit, too disparate in weight, too contrasting in behaviour, too out of character and hence too unbelievable. I unpick and put them back.
The other thing - the most alien of all - is that no-one's talking. Usually, I listen in to conversations, hearing them loud and clear, Clear enough to jot them down verbatim. But this time there's a lot of muttering, eyes sliding sideways, alert for eavesdroppers. I need to change my disguise. Improve my stalking tactics. Bug their phones.
But the good thing is, I've been here before. Have learnt that eventually all will come good.
And I've learnt to savour even the frustration of this beginning stage.
This is exactly what I hoped to hear from you and other novel writers at House of Writers, our treasured one-week, annual retreat. When the characters stand beside you and speak directly into your ear, writing is like taking in oxygen -- natural, necessary, automatic. When they stand far away and speak into their sleeves or, worse, talk amongst themselves on the other side of a busy thoroughfare, it is hell to understand their next moves. Thank you for posting this. You probably have no idea how much you are loved.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gita - since you were the instigator, via a prompt, of the now-revived short story, I'll try and keep you up-to-date with progress. I'll be travelling a lot as a passenger in the next couple of days - always good thinking time. xx
Delete