The novel I’ve been writing has been put to one side for some time. I got side-tracked by making a start on a fantasy story, partly inspired by the fantasy and science fiction books I’ve read in the last couple of years. However, I hadn’t put the original novel, whose working title is Stalked, out of my mind completely.
Earlier this week, I felt the urge to return to it. I remember from a creative writing course I went to a few years ago in Cambridge that you shouldn’t start writing the story too early. That is, don’t start the story weeks before anything interesting happens. If anything does need to be referred to from that time period, you should cleverly weave the backstory in when it’s needed.
I realised that I was starting Stalked too early, which meant that the novel was divided into too many parts. I started the story later. The scene was the same, but the conversation was very different. I’m pleased with this change.
