Miss Mayle makes her appearance
I've reached 1,267 words, and although I feel like I'm on a roll, I think I need to get some sleep tonight. One thing I learned when I was writing my dissertation is that it's good to 'park on the downhill slope.' (That was the phrase that one advice book used.) The idea is that if you stop writing when you still have plenty of ideas about where to go next, it's like parking on a downhill slope - really easy to get started again when you come back to it. So I've made a few notes about what I want to write about next - I'm in the middle of something - and I'll pick it up tomorrow after work.
I am having fun but I have to admit it's harder than I thought it would be. Initially, I couldn't really figure out what I wanted to write for the beginning, and I got annoyed when I would write really clunky sentences. I guess my Inner Editor's still here. I need to get rid of it and just remember that it's great to make lots of mistakes because taking risks is more fun than playing it safe. I guess I just keep remembering that you all will probably read the whole thing eventually, and I wish it were really good. I have to keep telling myself that if I decide you shouldn't read it, then you don't have to, and anyway, you'll read it knowing that I wrote it all in a glorious rush in 30 days.
Anyway, about the book. Writing historical fiction is kind of hard, but as I mentioned before, I'm letting myself take lots of creative license with the era. I use what I want, and drop what I don't want or don't know. I'm not even going to try to use historically accurate language, except for the occasional word thrown in to try to sound like the right period. I wonder, by the end, if I'll be glad I tried writing a 1920's piece, or not. One thing I like about writing historical fiction is that I can get lots of inspiration from history. I had to quickly decide what Seth's job was going to be (even though I don't really know how much women worked outside the home in those days, who cares!!) and decided she would work at Union Station. I looked up Union Station to find out if it was even open then, and discovered that the station opened in August, 1927, and the Prince and Princess of Wales attended the opening ceremony. I got to put that in my novel, and it led to the introduction of someone who will turn out to be very important for the book: The Duchess. You'll find out in due time.
I also had the experience of some of the characters taking over. I decided that Seth had just started this new job, and then further decided that she had just moved to the big city from a small town - West McGillivray. This allows me to write about her impressions of big city life, and paint her as slightly less sophisticated then some of the people surrounding her. People like Crystal Mayle, who was introduced in paragraph 2 of my novel. Here's an excerpt of the first two paragraphs:
If you’ve never seen a woman dressed as a man impersonating a woman, it would be hard to describe the atmosphere and clientele of Jackie’s Place. As Seth entered the crowded, dimly lit room, she unconsciously adjusted the fit of her sternly cut tweed jacket and attempted a look of nonchalance. Deciding nonchalance wasn’t quite appropriate, she quickly tried on and then discarded a look of boredom, then pique, followed by arrogance, and finally, a model’s moue. None seemed right.
You see, Seth had never seen a woman dressed as a man impersonating a woman, until she arrived at the entrance to Jackie’s Place and was greeted by an outlandish creature who had warmly introduced herself as Crystal Mayle, shook Seth’s hand, and waved her inside. Although Seth knew it was rude to stare, she had snuck some lengthy glances towards Miss Mayle’s tall coiffure decorated with iridescent peacock feathers, her impossibly tall and arched eyebrows, her seemingly jeweled eyelids, and dress with a very unfashionably tight bodice. The dress was rather tight around the hip area as well, and although Seth was ashamed to admit, even to herself, that she had investigated that area of Miss Mayle’s physique, she had spied an unexpected bulge in an area that could only be described as the groin. Seth had hurried on, sure that her puzzled look was revealing her as a country bumpkin. She was not entirely sure, but she thought that Miss Mayle was probably the first woman dressed as a man impersonating a woman that she had ever seen.
I am having fun but I have to admit it's harder than I thought it would be. Initially, I couldn't really figure out what I wanted to write for the beginning, and I got annoyed when I would write really clunky sentences. I guess my Inner Editor's still here. I need to get rid of it and just remember that it's great to make lots of mistakes because taking risks is more fun than playing it safe. I guess I just keep remembering that you all will probably read the whole thing eventually, and I wish it were really good. I have to keep telling myself that if I decide you shouldn't read it, then you don't have to, and anyway, you'll read it knowing that I wrote it all in a glorious rush in 30 days.
Anyway, about the book. Writing historical fiction is kind of hard, but as I mentioned before, I'm letting myself take lots of creative license with the era. I use what I want, and drop what I don't want or don't know. I'm not even going to try to use historically accurate language, except for the occasional word thrown in to try to sound like the right period. I wonder, by the end, if I'll be glad I tried writing a 1920's piece, or not. One thing I like about writing historical fiction is that I can get lots of inspiration from history. I had to quickly decide what Seth's job was going to be (even though I don't really know how much women worked outside the home in those days, who cares!!) and decided she would work at Union Station. I looked up Union Station to find out if it was even open then, and discovered that the station opened in August, 1927, and the Prince and Princess of Wales attended the opening ceremony. I got to put that in my novel, and it led to the introduction of someone who will turn out to be very important for the book: The Duchess. You'll find out in due time.
I also had the experience of some of the characters taking over. I decided that Seth had just started this new job, and then further decided that she had just moved to the big city from a small town - West McGillivray. This allows me to write about her impressions of big city life, and paint her as slightly less sophisticated then some of the people surrounding her. People like Crystal Mayle, who was introduced in paragraph 2 of my novel. Here's an excerpt of the first two paragraphs:
If you’ve never seen a woman dressed as a man impersonating a woman, it would be hard to describe the atmosphere and clientele of Jackie’s Place. As Seth entered the crowded, dimly lit room, she unconsciously adjusted the fit of her sternly cut tweed jacket and attempted a look of nonchalance. Deciding nonchalance wasn’t quite appropriate, she quickly tried on and then discarded a look of boredom, then pique, followed by arrogance, and finally, a model’s moue. None seemed right.
You see, Seth had never seen a woman dressed as a man impersonating a woman, until she arrived at the entrance to Jackie’s Place and was greeted by an outlandish creature who had warmly introduced herself as Crystal Mayle, shook Seth’s hand, and waved her inside. Although Seth knew it was rude to stare, she had snuck some lengthy glances towards Miss Mayle’s tall coiffure decorated with iridescent peacock feathers, her impossibly tall and arched eyebrows, her seemingly jeweled eyelids, and dress with a very unfashionably tight bodice. The dress was rather tight around the hip area as well, and although Seth was ashamed to admit, even to herself, that she had investigated that area of Miss Mayle’s physique, she had spied an unexpected bulge in an area that could only be described as the groin. Seth had hurried on, sure that her puzzled look was revealing her as a country bumpkin. She was not entirely sure, but she thought that Miss Mayle was probably the first woman dressed as a man impersonating a woman that she had ever seen.
Brilliant! All the fun word play of Rogue Intelligence, set in the 1920s. I laughed out loud at the "the area that can only be described as the groin". Judging by your and Katie's post, I am going to have to pick up my descriptions of people's groins.
ReplyDeleteDon't think that no one noticed the use of the word "iridescent".
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha, it's so much a part of my vocabulary that even I didn't notice that I used the word 'iridescent'! What is happening to me!!!! Am I a Twi-hard?
ReplyDeleteyes.
ReplyDelete