Plot knots

I have had something of a trying day.  Although I have just about managed the word target – 1,832, so a few short – I am not particularly happy about what I have written.  Now that the end is in sight I am having to tie up various plot loose ends, and those little devils refuse to be tidied.  I keep having to put questions to myself in square brackets – [[But why would he do this???]] and so on.  And I know it sounds like a juicy rationalisation, but I think the best thing is to call it a day and then read the troublesome passages again first thing tomorrow, and see if I can make more sense of them.

I have also developed quite a long list of things to address once all of the first writing is completed, such as:

• tone of voice – make sure characters sound different to each other
• more action – get Sam out on those streets
• check values of money whenever mentioned – Sam was earning 25 shillings a week, which is only about £94 in today’s money, so I can’t have Martha being too profligate

But it is reassuring to know that there is still plenty of work to occupy me – the worst feeling is sitting facing the screen while not knowing what to do.  If I still can’t untangle those plot knots tomorrow, I’ll just do some tone or action instead.

Oh, and on my daily perambulation I went into the local library and saw that “Fatal Forgery” is out on loan – always exciting.