On my recent visit to France I stayed alone in a lovely studio apartment and wrote. I wrote something approaching 15,000 words in one week. On my Family holiday in Cornwall it was somewhat different. For one thing I put the writing of my novel to one side and relaxed into the generous sofas of the beautiful, white stone house where we stayed. I sat in its garden too and wondered at the stunning quality of the light – no surprise that painters gravitate to this the most south westerly of our counties – which fell over everything including the wide seas and skies of the nearby Camelford estuary.
At dusk I walked – trespassed in fact – across the links course at the back of the house and stumbled across long coppery grass littered with wild orchids. I’ve never seen so many wild orchids in one place and find it hard to imagine I ever will again.
The orchids inspired me to begin a story about a woman who walks in such a place at dusk. It’s a story in which very little happens apart from what’s happening inside her head. It’s a story I’ve been wanting to write for some time but it’s still unfinished and it will have to wait.
Now I’m home I’m back to some serious work on the novel. I’ve set myself a target of at LEAST 1,000 words a day. I am currently at 21,000 words – and still transcribing from my French notebook; I have to write this novel on paper first, it comes at me so fast. It has a will all of its own. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this – anyone?
I’ll be posting my progress here and maybe next time, if I’m brave enough, an extract from the beginning.
