Pages

Saturday 14 January 2012

That one small change

Well, just to let you know how last night went. The film was wonderful and if you haven't yet seen it, the scene where a panicked Joey gallops through the hellish, barbed-wire battleground of No-Mans land is a heart-breaker.

The man sitting on the other side of me, (not H.I.) did an awful lot of sniffing and there was quite a bit of throat-clearing going on around the audience as well. Oh, and the strangest thing happened when I took out my mobile phone to call a cab - whether planned or not I don't know - as we came out of the cinema the time on my phone said 23.11! Eleven minutes past eleven. I love strange little coincidences like that.

Watching the film brought to mind the first novel I wrote called, Another Time Another Place, which was set in dockside Liverpool before and during the first world war and the story went rather well up to a certain point. But there was a point where it wasn't working and I could never get my head around what it was that was going wrong with it, so I put it to one side.

Then during the night my creative, unconcious mind must have been doing its job while I slept and suddenly, in the wee small hours I woke up and immediately thought "that's what it is!" My eureka moment had struck.

I couldn't wait to get back to it and change that part of the story. So, leaving the comfort of my snugly duvet for the teeth-chattering cold of the kitchen, I put the kettle on and pondered. I knew exactly what had gone wrong and I could see the story unfolding in my minds eye; it was such a simple thing - why hadn't I thought of it before?

Now, as I'm sure many of you will know, it is quite impossible to change just one part of a work in progress as, after that, the other parts don't quite sit right, I call it the domino effect and when you dislodge one piece you have to bolster everything else, otherwise it all comes tumbling down, so that simple thing - that one small change - isn't going to be the five minute job I envisaged, so is this my project for 2012? I'm not sure.

But one thing I do know, the change may just be the glue that holds the whole thing together, I hope so, but until then I'll keep chugging away relentlessly and I'll let you know the outcome in due course.
Keep smiling.
She x

2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading this as I am having that problem with my novel-to change or now to change. I can't wait to see war horse on the screen. I went to the play twice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wanted so much to see the stage play but as I live in Merseyside I don't get to London very often, but those puppets are fantastic and as I am so intertested in that era the film was a gift. As for changes in the novel, I would certainly put it away for a while and go back later. I wasn't sure I could do it and got so frustrated with the wip that in the end I lashed it - that was last year - revisiting it now, it looks like someone elses story and so easy to change. Thanks for the comment Carol

      Delete