Our garden in winterIn January we had bad weather in the sheltered Midlands: (not counting the 5 minutes of snow which melted as it fell), bitterly cold winds and icy rain for several consecutive days.During this time I didn’t venture down the garden, limited myself to walking into town by the gutters to avoid the untreated roads and pavements.
When I did look at our vegetable patch the broad bean plants were in a sorry state. Most dead, some hanging on to the small bamboo stakes I’d provided. I trimmed the survivors and belatedly covered them with a protective tunnel.
SurvivingWe grow vegetables for fun rather than our survival so we had no more than 20. Yesterday I had a second chance. I planted another dozen in pots indoors.I enjoy the fresh young beans and when I do grow them I sow the seeds in October/November. Other years they are well able to stay alive till the warmer weather.
Snowdrops on a walk to townThis morning I heard a quote from Maggie O’Farrell who said she began writing a new novel with a plan in mind. Part way through – a third, maybe half-way – the characters determined their own direction. Sometimes this is called – going with the flow. That works well for me in the first, the discovery draft.
However, I don’t want the characters wandering all over the place. Rather I want to get to know them, much as I get to know a close friend. I need to be flexible. How do they show they’re happy? How do they behave in a crisis? And yet I like some measure of control. I can’t have a character in the middle of World War 1 marching off to join the Russian Revolution. Or can I? Should I?
With a novel, after I’ve read through the first draft, I can start again. On the whole the core of the story remains, how I tell it may be different.
With a poem, the process is similar, though sometimes the poem is for me and not a potential reader. I may for example need to discover something personal – a past grief or an idyllic moment – which I don’t yet want to share.
Maggie O’Farrell is an experienced and accomplished novel so maybe when she’s finished her first draft, it’s just a question of tweaking. What do you think? If you’re a writer what do you do?
Reading: Still Writing – Dani Shapiro I finished this after probably years. I don’t agree with all she suggests but she is helpful and encouraging. I’ve nearly finished the French novel. Dipping into the usual poetry books and magazines – 44 Poems on Being with Each Other editor Pádraig Ótuama –being a particular favourite. Just starting Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen and My Blue Peninsula – Maureen Freely
Hi Marg,
Yes I agree with Maggie Farrell that fictional characters do sometimes take a different course, and you should follow them if that happens.
I believe that during the creative process, this is the unconscious mind bringing things to the surface, and that’s important. For me the process of writing a novel is a process of finding out what I want to say, and I don’t do a detailed plan.
Sometimes when my characters have done something totally unexpected that is the best part of my novel.
But I write a different fiction genre to you (mystery / gothic) so perhaps this applies better to mine than to yours!
Interesting. I suspect we’re not too far from each other. In A Time for Peace, you’re right. I wanted Ellen to be a soldier and she refused. When I got to know her better I could see why. Making Good begins with one character in a relationship leaving the other – on impulse apparently. When I got to know each of them better, I discovered what was going on, how and if they might resolve their difficulties.
“With a poem, the process is similar, though sometimes the poem is for me and not a potential reader. I may for example need to discover something personal – a past grief or an idyllic moment – which I don’t yet want to share.”
Love that, makes perfect sense. I do the same with poems, I find I don’t know what the poem’s about, or what it was I needed to write, until the end.
I agree with Maggie O’Farrell, I think the characters decide what they want to do and you, the writer, basically transcribe it. But then I’m still discovering my skills at this so we’ll see how it goes.