Happy New Year - Jennifer Reid

I can’t believe we’re already almost half way through January 2014. I’m loving the holidays, and trying not to plan too far ahead now, so that the rest of January doesn’t fly by. My plan is to take each day as it comes, and enjoy the moments.

I’ve enjoyed being able to draw and read over the holiday break. However, the plan is to do a little more writing than I have been. That’s one of my resolutions for 2014, of course. I need to push past the self-doubt and just keep writing.

Recent feedback for Chapter 3 of my novel from Amanda has given me a push to keep going, but it has also confirmed what I’ve been thinking for a while. I need to do more research. But where do I begin?

I know that many writers have lived in or traveled to the place in which their novel is set. Unfortunately, I haven’t done either. I have a little voice in my head saying, “You have to go there.” But there are a few obstacles in the way at the moment.

Amanda says:

There is a lot of good stuff in here and when you get into what they do
with their time – making soap/harvesting etc it really feels there is some
flavour and substance. BUT (the big but) if you think about the fact that the
reader needs a constant stream of new
information – you’ll see that many parts of the story go back and forth and
occasionally round in circles – next chapter try and focus on surging forward
on the current of the story and you’ll find a new momentum is created. Remember
conflict is story – story is conflict. Have fun!

My problem with moving forward is that I don’t know enough about Lebanon. I haven’t walked under the trees, climbed the mountains, chatted with the villagers, chomped on the almonds, smelt the orange blossoms, breathed in the crisp, mountain air. I’ve only heard stories about it. I haven’t even seen many images, as back in my parents’ day there was not a lot of photo taking.

Add the fact that I don’t really know how to research the period in time I’ve set my novel in, other than listening to my mum’s stories of her childhood, and I believe I have a real problem. My mum’s many stories are absolutely amazing, by the way. It’s just that I need to help my reader see and feel and smell. But if I haven’t even seen, felt or smelt the place for myself, how on earth am I going to effectively write about it?

Then I’m going to have to deal with the problem that I wasn’t alive in the 1950’s in Australia either. How do I get a realistic sense of what it was like to live in a small country town in Australia back then? What was it like for a young man and woman starting their married life in a new country, not knowing the language, knowing nobody but their immediate family, having no job, and to top it all off, to be utterly and terribly homesick?

So, I can’t transport myself back in time, nor can I fly to Lebanon at the moment. It looks like I’ve got some tricky novel writing challenges ahead! Onward and upward to Chapter 4 🙂

P.S. I know I haven’t revealed my secret, which I hinted about in my last post. It’s not that I’ve forgotten, I’m just not ready to spill the beans yet. All in good time…

P.P.S. I thought I’d share my Christmas Angel (above), as I never got around to getting them made into personalised Christmas cards to mail out to friends and family…so please enjoy it here instead. Better late than never 🙂