Well I’m just about exactly to the midpoint in my draft of Honey Trap (which is on Amazon already, by the way…no pressure, then) and I have had a problem. This is the point where usually my imagination fails me.
See, I often put my characters in fairly limited surroundings–it’s a good way of getting them to look at their inner problems, and also of forcing the hero and heroine together. My first book locked my hero and heroine together in a derelict cinema, and I’ve never been quite that drastic since, but I do use forced proximity of some sort quite often. For example, my last heroine (of One Night Stand) lived next door to the hero and saw him every day–and they were best friends and did everything together anyway.
Here, the heroine is the resident aromatherapist on tour with a rock band that the hero plays bass for. So they’ve been travelling together, from tour bus to hotel to theatre. They’ve covered a lot of the country–they’ve been in London, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and Cardiff so far–but the essential scenery remains the same.
The thing is, a limited setting can work for you, but it can also become tedious–usually exactly at the point I’m at now.
And it’s not only the setting that’s stuck: the hero and heroine are at an impasse, where their attraction to each other is strong, but the conflict separating them is stronger.
So I need to do something to shake them up. New setting, new surroundings, new conflict, new aspect to their relationship that will allow them to move on. Unfortunately that requires imagination, and you can’t force imagination to come, even when you have to write 1000 words every single day in order to make your deadline.
I think I’ve got an idea. I’m going to spend the day nurturing it and hopefully by the time I sit down to work tonight, baby in bed and glass of wine in hand, it will have sprouted.
It gets worse when you realise that actually in order to get the maximum out — you need to transpose chapters and add scenes because really all one has for apages on end is talking heads.
Isn’t writing wonderful?
Nothing like wine for fertilising the imagination!
I have complete faith in your germinating powers, Julie!
Ditto what Jenny said. Good luck.
Yes, writing is wonderful, Michelle.
Though what you describe sounds like second draft fun rather than first draft writing whatever crap comes to mind.
Wine and fertiliser have worked quite well, I’ve done my 1000 words and can now go to bed and get back to the grindstone tomorrow.
Good job…I was about to loan you my penguins.
Good Luck with it.
Just wanted to let you know that I’m almost half way through Spirit Willing, Flesh Weak and I love it.
xx
You never know, Jenna, I may still need the penguins. I never rule them out until I’ve typed “the end”.
Hooray, Sally! I’m glad you’re enjoying it! Thanks for letting me know.
You could have the heroine getting cabin fever and going walkabout. That would take her into any setting you wanted, and could bring in some outside people as well. If the hero notices she’s missing he could follow her . . .