Phew
For the last week, I have been struggling to finish the opening section of the new novel. A thousand words written this morning have done it.
What helped was the realisation last week that this novel has to be episodic in structure. The main action of the book will take place at Lundy's Lane, but I can't just start there as most modern readers, particularly the twelve-fourteen year old boys at which it is aimed, will have no idea what is going on. When you marry this need to provide background information with how different the nature of war was back then, this is the only way that works. It's not quite a stream of consciousness, but the framework is of my protagonist, looking back just before setting out on what will be a life changing journey in 1820 and trying to make sense of how he came to this point in his life by revisiting what he sees as the crucial events of the war.
What helped was the realisation last week that this novel has to be episodic in structure. The main action of the book will take place at Lundy's Lane, but I can't just start there as most modern readers, particularly the twelve-fourteen year old boys at which it is aimed, will have no idea what is going on. When you marry this need to provide background information with how different the nature of war was back then, this is the only way that works. It's not quite a stream of consciousness, but the framework is of my protagonist, looking back just before setting out on what will be a life changing journey in 1820 and trying to make sense of how he came to this point in his life by revisiting what he sees as the crucial events of the war.