My coffee in the supermarket becomes a research trip. The whole
book is based around a café and the coffee, so I study my latte and I watch out
for characters. I notice how people move, the expressions which cross their
faces. I may even record snippets of dialogue I overhear. All to feed Nano.
If I am stuck with my plot, I resort to picking up random
magazines in the supermarket. Turning to a page, I find a headline I can write
from and off I go writing today’s 1,670 target words.
These stimulants are particularly important as I reach the
inevitable stage in the manuscript where I am convinced that it is all rubbish
and that no one would ever want to read it. I valiantly attempt to write
through the doubt, hoping for a breakthrough.
At just over 21,000 words written this month (I already have
30,000 words on this story), I love my characters – Tobias, the failed
architect, turned chocolatier and Becky, the psychic barista, but my plot has
huge holes and leaps of faith.
At least I made myself laugh today. When I re-read what I had
just typed, I had spelled wellies with an “i” instead of the “e”.
A little snippet from “Written in the Coffee”:-
Tobias
was sat up still wrapped in the blankets.
She smiled at him.
‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Not bad, but I think
I’ve cricked my neck.’
He moved his head in a
circle and winced.
Becky tried not to
look at the hairs on his chest, revealed when the blankets fell away.
‘You should have slept
in the spare bed upstairs. It would have been much more comfortable.’
‘I needed to be
downstairs. Just in case you had any unwanted visitors in the night.
‘My guard dog?’
‘Knight in shining
armour please.’
Becky giggled. As far
as she could ascertain he was only wearing his underpants. Her mind wandered
off to what knights actually wore under their armour.
See if you can help me keep typing by telling me how you get
through the periods of doubt with your manuscript?
