The last week has been slow, but productive. I have finished the first five chapters of the new book along with two rounds of rewrites. In the end I'm left with something quite good, though I'm not entirely sure anymore after re-reading so many times I've probably memorized it by now.
It is now time to move on to the next section of the book which revolves around travel and the revelatory power of a journey. I figured the best thing to do was to review great travel sagas: Heart of Darkness, Lord of the Rings, even Peter Pan all of which give detailed reactions to new environments and foreign geographies. Walking that razor's edge between describing a setting enough to allow the reader to follow your thinking and boring said reader to death with too much detail is on the agenda next week. I'm focusing as much as possible on emotional response and connection to new landscapes (as someone who studied Landscape Archaeology (yes, that is a real course) it should be a piece of cake, right?). I like the idea of making the geography a character, but it may not be terribly appropriate at this point (maybe in the rewrites).
In other news, I'm taking the big leap this week and allowing my husband to read what I've been working on this past month or so. You have to understand that he is a physicist and computer scientist and as such is incredibly terse and practical. He also does not believe in my 'overly descriptive and sentimental writing technique.' In other words, he thinks I write like a girl. Not the most sympathetic audience. So, showing him anything forces me to prepare for an onslaught of criticism and let's face it, who wants her husband to tell her she should give up (not that I would). Brace yourselves people, next week could bring tears!
Any helpful advice or words of encouragement would be gratefully received. J.A.
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