Where have I been this week?
When I look back over the last week, I realise I've visited many and varied places in a short space of time. I've taken journeys to rural mid-Wales, a Norfolk village, Ypres, London, France and Greece. And all this without leaving the house...
I expect by now you've guessed that the journeys have been taken through my own writing, critiquing other friends' stories and reading a novel. I've journeyed in miles and time to a Radnorshire village in 1947, to the years just after the war, and witnessed rationing and dealings on the black market. Rose, one of the protagonists in my novel-in-progress, suspects her father of being involved and I'm at the part where she resolves to find proof of his misdoings. Not all journeys are literal, of course, and as the story progresses we will see the character of Jack Jenkins evolve and change along another journey, his life journey. 
Editing one of my short stories, 'Whispers In The Olive Trees', took me to Greece and the Peloponnese where I could feel the sun on my back. My character, Alex, was on a journey of her own to discover the father she knew nothing about until she read her mother's diary after she had died.I witnessed another murder in Redington, the Norfolk village where Susan Jones sets her stories. On Creative Frontiers last week, she left us with a cliff hanger each day until the culprit was revealed in the final installment.
Last Friday, my writing buddy, Helen, and I met up to critique each other's writing. Her latest story, 'Betrayal', deals with the main character's physical abuse at the hands of a boyfriend and shows her journey of denial, withdrawal and finally remorse when she is faced with the consequences of not having warned her friend, Lisa. To witness that journey was disturbing yet the message was very powerful.
There were very dark times to visit, too, in 'The Promise' by Lesley Pearse. I journeyed back in time to 1914 to London, France and Ypres and and witnessed, first hand, the horrors of the first World War both at home and on foreign soil. At the heart of the novel is one woman's journey through change, independence, loyalty, grief and love.
'Writing will be like a journey, every word a footstep that takes me further into undiscovered land.' - David Almond
'Reading takes you on a wonderful journey to places you have probably never been. Sit back and enjoy your journey.'- Marjorie Taylor
Where has your writing and reading taken you lately? What journeys have your characters embarked upon? How have they changed? I'd love it if you left a comment.
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A roller-coaster ride then! The joys of writing and reading - you have captured it beautifully in this post :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Samantha. I'd like to work on my characters' journeys more now so that they have more depth. The literal journeys are easier to write about, aren't they?
DeleteI'm sure you'll manage that easily Jan. I guess the literal journeys are a bit easier but it's more fun to write about where your characters have been and how it has perhaps changed them for better or worse. Happy writing :)
DeleteThanks. :-)
DeleteI have been to Greece too... and medieval England... and Scotland!
ReplyDeleteWow...and you haven't been back from France long either, Wendy! ;-) I love the sound of going back to medieval times.Thanks for commenting.
DeleteOur writing can take us to all kinds of places!
ReplyDeleteNot quite the same thing but a couple of days ago I told hubby I wouldn't mow the lawn as I'd planed because it had rained. He pointed out that it hadn't. Took me a while to realise I'd been sure it had because It had been chucking it down in the story I was working on.
That's great, Patsy. :-) Yes, we get so engrossed in what we're writing that it's difficult sometimes to divorce fiction and reality. Oh dear, I regret writing that as the story I've just finished involved me being a murder victim in a past life!!!
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