February 14th 2017:- I’ve managed to write a couple more hundred words than I had to this morning, bringing the word count up to 12 thousand, but there is so very far to go, that I can’t afford to be smug about it, as there is every chance I’ll find myself writing very little on some days. But, as I went along, I had a particular idea that helps to expand the relationship between the two main characters, so I followed that through and it’s come out fine. It was the kind of idea that probably only would occur while in mid-writing and it all hinged around the word ‘finger.’ Of course what I’ve just written is very boring to read about. I hadn’t planned to write a diary about the journey of this novel, but it seems that I am, and that it could be a good thing to go on with. I’m into chapter four now. I have noticed again something I struggle with in novel writing, and that’s the time line… if your character is talking about things in the past there are moments when the reader should know about where in a sequence of events a particular thing occurred and from time to time making that clear can be a struggle. This story takes place over 15 months between January 1851 and March 1852 and I have to keep that very much in mind as I go along. I can’t find a free UK newspaper archive, and I don’t mind paying a bit of money, but they ask for far too much, and I won’t pay it. [Turned out in the end, I did pay for it, but it was expensive].
