20th March 2017: I have completed chapter sixteen and written half the book at around 47 thousand words. This chapter was one of those treading water chapters in which nothing happens particular to the onward movement of the story, but it adds to the pacing of the whole and draws two of the main characters closer together. I noticed that when I am fully engaged with the writing, that I’m saying the words that I’m writing on paper out aloud as I go along which means I can hear when things don’t sound right, or come over awkwardly. Maybe it’s just that I’ve started to talk to myself in real life so that talking out my novel is just and expression of that… Lol.
Now, thinking back to a time in the early days of writing this when it felt huge and I wasn’t 100% sure about it, I remember the slightly sick feeling that gave me. Now, it really feels as if I am on the home-run and that the whole thing is falling into place. I’m not using the map anymore, it’s redundant because there have been some sections of writing through this novel, that have occurred because ideas have come to me while following the flow of the work, that haven’t bent it into a different shape, but just seemed natural to include. It’s when I’m writing dialogue that this comes about. I think the photo below is of the famous Katie King. And the text written by one of her ardent admirers. You can see the spirits coming through, can’t you? Or, can’t you?
