Hope Jahren asked Tracy Chevalier:

My favorite line in GWAPE was this: "Years of hauling water, wringing out clothes, scrubbing floors, emptying chamberpots, with no chance of beauty of color or light in my life, stretched out before me like a landscape of flat land where, a long way off, the sea is visible but can never be reached." Can you tell me how it came to you?

Tracy Chevalier Hi Hope!

Wow, I had completely forgotten that line. Actually, I've forgotten most of what I wrote - once it's published I never read it again, unless it's a section I'm reading at an event.

I can't recall where I got that line. Looking at it now, I suspect I started out by listing the tasks I imagined Griet performing, then imagined how she would feel, and the simile of seeing the sea a long way off just came to me. My writing is usually like that: I write to get from point A to point B, but in the midst of the journey I stop and think about how I can describe it in a more compelling way. Sometimes the words and images come easily; other times I struggle and rewrite and choose different similes/metaphors. The best is when it comes easily and naturally; if you have to rework it a lot, it's probably better to cut it and start again.

I have a feeling the above line came easily...

flag