For the past four months I haven't written a word, apart from a handful of poems and a story for my YouTube channel (see link below) because I've been focusing on artworks, photography, music, and making videos.
But there's another, more compelling reason for the lack of progress with my current novel: in fact , the plot refused to resolve.
The story was racing along perfectly happily and providing more than a little amusement (it's a humorous tale) when, suddenly, it screeched to an abrupt halt. I played with several ideas to further the plotline, all of which presented major problems, including one character threatening to hijack the whole shebang, leaving my main protagonist sulking in the shadows.
No amount of walking in the bushland or strolling along the beach yielded the usual inspiration so, as a final resort, I closed the word processing tabs on my laptop and relegated the novel to a dusty, becobwebbed corner of the organ I laughingly call 'my brain'.
It wasn't until last week when paddling through the shallows, sloshing the waves with my feet, that the sun broke through, both literally and metaphorically. As the clouds parted and the shadows retreated across the ocean, I felt a new idea pop into my head. It was one of those fabled lightglobe moments, and I began to follow its trajectory. And, oh joy! it gathered speed and resolved the entire plot!
For those of you who write, or paint, or compose music, you will understand the feeling! The frustration fades and excitement returns - and, with it, a keen desire to return to the fray.
This novel is, after all, great fun to write, given that it's a comedic, compassionate story about the misadventures of a young clergyman and his friendship with a genial rabbi, set in a rural retreat centre - a haven for the cantankerous, the careworn, and the confused.
So, wish me well as I resume the exhausting but ultimately rewarding process of completing my latest novel. I have great hopes of finishing it this year.
(you can find my YouTube Channel here)
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