Moving It
"Someone we know is a murderer" is the title of my current chapter. In it a husband and wife, a former county sheriff and his sometimes deputy, are faced with the realization that one of several close family members committed murder. What shall they do about it? It adds to their moral dilemma that no one else suspects murder, and the current sheriff won't even bother to look into it--let's just say the victim is such a thorough villain that no one, even his family, mourns his demise. This sheriff in the book's time of 1939 can get by with such a lax attitude, particularly because of where it took place. Read on.
I placed the couple in their rural kitchen, around their table, where all good discussion takes place. But wait, haven't they been there before, in a previous chapter. I don't need to describe the room again, and how many times can one of them get up from their chair and pour another cup of coffee, even in an American/Norwegian kitchen?
So I've been slogging through their dialogue, not really happy with the scene. At work one day, while walking to the lunch room where I would get in another 15 to 20 minutes of writing, the solution came to me--move them! Duh.
Now their conversation takes place inside their car that is moving on gravel roads from the small town which is the county seat (where the man has had his unsatisfying conversation with the sheriff) to their rural home, some 12 miles up-in-the-hills. During their argument the car makes three turns, each time onto less well-traveled and less well-maintained roads (from state to county to township roads) until they turn into their own driveway which is well kept and graveled.
In addition, I get to describe the country that they travel through (you can't see much from a kitchen window), which makes me happy. "All landscapes are sacred."
Will all this make the reader happy? My six writing mates will let me know when it's done and I share it with them.
Oh. My "idea" came while I was moving, too. I bet there's a message in there somewhere.
Angela
I placed the couple in their rural kitchen, around their table, where all good discussion takes place. But wait, haven't they been there before, in a previous chapter. I don't need to describe the room again, and how many times can one of them get up from their chair and pour another cup of coffee, even in an American/Norwegian kitchen?
So I've been slogging through their dialogue, not really happy with the scene. At work one day, while walking to the lunch room where I would get in another 15 to 20 minutes of writing, the solution came to me--move them! Duh.
Now their conversation takes place inside their car that is moving on gravel roads from the small town which is the county seat (where the man has had his unsatisfying conversation with the sheriff) to their rural home, some 12 miles up-in-the-hills. During their argument the car makes three turns, each time onto less well-traveled and less well-maintained roads (from state to county to township roads) until they turn into their own driveway which is well kept and graveled.
In addition, I get to describe the country that they travel through (you can't see much from a kitchen window), which makes me happy. "All landscapes are sacred."
Will all this make the reader happy? My six writing mates will let me know when it's done and I share it with them.
Oh. My "idea" came while I was moving, too. I bet there's a message in there somewhere.
Angela
posted by Seven Authors in A Private Conversation at 7:55 AM
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