I’m Back!
It’s shocking to see that I haven’t blogged since August last year. It’s not that I haven’t stopped writing, it’s just that all my focus was on my last year of university. And it paid off – a first in English Literature and Creative writing. But it left me mentally drained although I’ve written bits and pieces, there’s been no structure. So with the change in seasons and the change in the clocks, I’ve set a new resolution to get back into my writing by allocating time every week.
I’m working on my next novel which, as I’m sure you can guess, is set in north Devon. Place is incredibly important to my writing and I’ve set my protagonist on a windy cliff on the Hartland Peninsula – a place which I never tire of visiting so research is definitely not a problem. I’m in the very early stages – the scrappy first draft which is just the writer telling themself the story. The real business will start in the new year when I’ll deep dive into editing and rewriting. In some ways, that’s the part I enjoy the most. I’m rubbish at making decisions so having a blank page and letting my imagination run wild is impossible in creating a coherent story. But after I’ve written this draft (around 50k words), then I’ll be able to work it into something more like a story and hopefully end up with around 80k words.
The Canada geese have now left, heralding the start of my favourite season. I watched them fly up and down the river, preparing the young ones for their long journey… well, not to North America but to a place that offers shelter and food during the winter months. Last weekend I took a stroll around Tamar Lakes and I swear I saw my geese there. But I still like to think that all that flying backwards and forwards was in preparation for a journey much more arduous than a trip to the Devon/Cornwall border!
The river here never ceases to fascinate me. I love the way it’s so tidal and its beauty at high tide. Low tide brings in a little egret and curlews. Sometimes I’ve seen a grey heron and a cormorant. I hear an oyster catcher and watch wagtails. And the gulls. How I love the gulls. I want to help to preserve this forever and I’ve started training to become a river warden. I’ve just got my water testing to do in a month or so and then I’ll become a ‘citizen scientist’ – such a grand title. And not bad for someone who spectacularly failed O-levels in biology and chemistry. Mind you, I was always good at drawing a hydra and my chemistry teacher said she couldn’t knock my enthusiasm even though my experiment results were never what they should have been (I was pretty ace at drawing a blast furnace which might have something to do with my Scunthorpian origins!). Anyway, I’m quite chuffed at becoming a citizen scientist as maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to help make a difference.
And maybe that’s what the protagonist of my new novel could be – a citizen scientist. At this early stage she’s already had several occupations: artist, gardener, cafe owner – why not add something else into the mix just to make editing that much harder!
