It is incredibly difficult to write fiction. Yes, I know, people have been saying that for eons, but well, it is. First, you have to find characters you can bear to live with for a whole 80,000 words. Then, you have to give them enough to do, to make it work for all that time. And – gulp! – your plotting (and all the details) have to be internally consistent. Browsing blogs on the internet yesterday, I was reminded of the importance of research, details and writing about what you know.

So, I started a new tradition and went into town today to do some research. Yes, I am really enjoying what Rumpole might call, visiting the locus in quo, the place in question. As I watched people scurrying across icy streets in their lunch hour, I was free, in the business of my work, to meander and observe, casting my gaze up at balustrades, down at cellar cafes and sideways at the tramlines and traffic lights.

Hermann Fenner-Behmer - 'What to write?'
Hermann Fenner-Behmer – ‘What to write?’

(Perhaps, one day, I might include in my research, such wonderful pastimes as lunch and socialising) …..Noticing details, at a distance from the desk, I remembered – horrors! – that if my MC has just driven into work along the majestic Western Approach Road, she can hardly be living in a bijoux flat near her west-end office, can she?

I went home hastily, and spent the rest of the afternoon tidying up text. To give a more obvious example, if the MC is reading a magazine in March, she won’t be going on a romantic break in chilly autumn any time soon.

The writing is going very well at the moment, with three proposals being prepared and submitted. Synopses, I’ve written a few, but then again, too few to mention….synopses are the subject of my next post.

Thanks for reading.

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