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My Works in Progress

Tuesday 27 May 2008

Sunlight on Broken Glass ...

Is my latest title for 'Going Back' which is just a working title.

A few days ago I spent ages making lists of titles that just didn't fit What a waste of time. I should have learned the lesson from Twisted Garlands and just let it find its own name.

When I was writing Twisted Garlands it was known for at least the first 50K words as just 'Book'. Then it became 'A Tangled Web' - but that was a cliche and had been used loads of times before so I quickly discarded that. There followed lots of silly titles; sad titles; titles that bore no resemblance to the story; titles that when googled revealed they had been used before and titles that were as dull as Lane's washing-up water. (By the way, Lane, how's the hair now after the hair dye incident?) It was nearly as bad finding a title that fitted the story as writing the story itself.

Then the title materialised right in front of my eyes in a paragraph of dialogue spoken by the sensible and wise Rose '... life is like a twisted garland of daisies, one links onto another and there you have it ... blah blah' Good old Rose had found it for me! Thank you Rose.

Similarly in 'Going Back' I wrote just now (3.30 am in the morning when I flow at my fastest and strongest):

'Tony stared at the broken glass in his hand and remembered when, as a child, he had started a fire just by concentrating the sun's rays on a patch of dry grass. The mid-day sun on his back served only to fuel his anger and light a raging fire in his soul. The very same mid-day sun that had once filled Pippa's soft hair with warmth and made her eyes dance with twinkles and sparkles now glinted with menace on the broken glass in his hand ....'

Tony is about to do something that he won't regret for many years. For nearly thirty years his secret remains buried. He thinks he's got away with murder, but he hasn't. He smugly covers up his crime and events conspire to ensure that he escapes justice. That is, until his wife's long-lost daughter, Tammy, comes back to the village to find her roots twenty-eight years later. She wants answers and has nothing to lose ...

So there it is. 'Sunlight on Broken Glass'. I googled it and it hasn't been used before. It's quite apt, really, as it relates to the pivotal point in the story, from which the back-story and present tense odd-numbered chapters radiate. I'm sort of wondering whether or not to use it as a prologue, or leave it where it is, almost slap bang in the centre of the story. I wonder if I'll keep it or change it as the story progresses? We'll just have to see.

I seem to have abandoned 'Doubled Lives'. It's turned into the proverbial damp squib. I wasn't enjoying writing it and didn't get that little tingle at the prospect of a couple of hours uninterrupted writing time. 'Sunlight on Broken Glass' is firing me up and I just can't stop writing. I'm up to 47,846 words now. I've got a week off work and am going to aim for 2K words each day for the next six days which should bring it up to about 60K by next Sunday.

I might resurrect 'Doubled Lives', but I doubt it. I don't like the characters one little bit. I won't press 'delete' just yet, but I think it might have to disappear off the top of my blog.

Right. It's now 4.00 am and I'm going back to bed for a couple of hours. At least I don't have to go to work today ... hooray!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Crikey, you don't hang about do you? 48 kw already! You make me look like I'm standing still.

It sounds like your instincts are paying off. I'm sure you'll go back to Doubled Lives eventually, but why divert attention away from Sunlight On Broken Glass, when you're clearly on a roll.

Really nice title by the way. Very visual.

Annieye said...

Captain - thanks. By the way it's nearly 48K of literary diahorrea. It's probably only about half that if I cut out all the bad bits! Still, never mind, you can't edit nothing can you, as they say!

Did you have a nice break? We missed you yesterday morning. It just wasn't the same without our Cap'n.

HelenMWalters said...

Wow! Amazing progress!

Lane Mathias said...

I think it sounds a great title. I was just reading in the Yearbook last night how important an 'eye catching' title is. The fact that they can change it before publication is another story.

Great word count Annie. You're something of an inspiration you know. I'm also incredibly impressed at how little you sleep!

The hair? I redid it. It's now the colour of bathwater - after Peggy has been cleansed of guck:-)

Karen said...

It does make me laugh when you say you don't like the characters in Doubled Lives one little bit! I think that speaks for itself.

Sunlight on Broken Glass is a great title, and your excerpt has whetted my appetite for more, so I hope you carry on being inspired :o)

Anonymous said...

God! You sound like a Whizz Kid! youve done all that already!! You must type faster than the speed of light. Good luck with it.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Blimey that's some word count.

Love the sound of the book and the title.