Writing Update: 03/11/23
Added 2023-11-05 19:13:44 +0000 UTCStart of week: 52,030
End of week: 56,379
Word count: +4349
An odd week: a number of major disruptions and Friday, especially, was poor for writing, but still crushed the weekly target largely due to a little inspiration, I suppose.
Anticipating some major writing-blockage as I started the third part of the Interlude, I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it flowed in the little time I was able to salvage from the week. The opening line ("On the final day of David Saunders’ manhood...,") had been floating around in my head for a bit, and I hope it survives the final edit. I think switching to his 3rd person point of view was the right way forward, but I wasn't entirely clear how I was going to get him to his appointment with the other three via the meeting with Mal.
The meeting with Mal was plotted out a few months ago, a change broughout about by some edits earlier in the Interval. But the bit in the canteen, and Ivy especially, was a bit of a surprise, as is the scene that follows that converstaion. , Inspired by an audiobook I'm listening to that references Plath's The Bell Jar; I'll save it for the next Sneak Peak.
Comments
Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the comment! I don't think I'm particularly good at opening sentences, but that one jumped pretty much fully formed into my head between writing sessions. I'll look up the Fish book - I'm a big fan of strong openers: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a good book in possession of an ejoyable story, must be in want of a strong opening sentence".
David Sanders
2023-11-09 19:35:06 +0000 UTCI'm usually just a silent recipient of your updates, but I do like that opening sentence. I applaud giving attention to what sort of tone is set by your first line. I'm reminded of Stanley Fish's "How to write a sentence: and how to read one", wherein he devotes an entire chapter apiece to appreciating great opening sentences and great final sentences from throughout literature. An early chapter from Fish's book is responsible for the most delightful exclamation I can remember making during 'serious reading': "My last sentence uses the word 'sentence' three times, and in this sentence I have now done the same."
Dan T
2023-11-09 02:48:34 +0000 UTCProbably not as much as I ought to! But Naomi Wolf's Beauty Myth was very useful. Currently listening to an audiobook of "High Heel", from the (apparently) Object Lesson series - I hadn't heard of it before, so it was a bit of a random selection, but it's been a fruitful listen. It's what directed me to the "fig tree" scene... and some other stuff that might work it's way into later writing (and likely figure in the rewrite of the beauty contemplation scene David's working through.)
David Sanders
2023-11-06 17:30:32 +0000 UTCI have to admit to not having read The Bell Jar either, though it's sat on my bookshelf for ages. There's a specific passage in it, concerning a fig tree, that I've shamelessly stolen from, though.
David Sanders
2023-11-06 17:27:36 +0000 UTCYou've been reading a lot of feminism classic. I guess any kind of inspiration is priceless for a writer.
Carmons58
2023-11-06 15:45:21 +0000 UTCGlad to hear you are making progress; especially after that massive tease of an opening sentence! I've not read The Bell Jar so I can't say if the bell jar is a metaphor for mental health or of the expectations of society on women (thank you wikipedia) - but the parallels are pretty obvious to me in the way that David 'forces' Cindy to behave/dress etc.... Hanging on your every word!
Asklepios
2023-11-06 11:17:26 +0000 UTC
