a date with your book

I've taken author Ann Hood's advice and gone on a "date" with my book. Or with the main character, more precisely. In Hood's talk, she suggested we print out our book, get dressed up and take it to a coffee shop along with a red pen for some serious editing. In my case, this was more of a "get to know you" date. Yes, I've been working on this book for over a year now, but I've been so caught up in the plot (this happens and then this and then this) that I haven't taken the time to look at my main character and see how she has changed over the past few drafts.

What I discovered has made her a far more interesting creature than she was before, when I was treating her as little more than a machine to drive through my prescribed plot elements. And I found it liberating to just "write Lexi." Write about how she feels about her parents, her best friend, her boyfriend. Describe her bedroom, in her voice. Don't worry about creating a scene, and where that scene will fit in the draft, and what it needs to communicate. Just write. I doubt that all of this backstory will actually be used, verbatim, in my next draft, but it was useful to get a glimpse into her character and hear her voice.

Of course, this has taught me the virtue of patience, and how I often exhibit little of it, and how the lack of it often leads to lazy, slap-dash writing. This exercise didn't lead to complete nirvana-esque inspiration, but it did spark a few things. A few little lights in the darkness, and I'll follow wherever they lead me.

Pictured above: Angels climb up – and down – the ladder outside of Bath Abbey. Even angels look over their shoulders as they climb.