Chapter 15 almost had me beaten. During August I had a couple of weeks away but printed off the chapter and carried it around with me as if being away from my desk would inspire me. It didn’t. Too much going on, too much melodrama and everybody ‘looking’ at everyone else as if it was going out of fashion. Like life at the moment or at least a bad episode of East Enders. That’s Chapter 15 for you. Don’t ask me about the dialogue!
The fact that it’s about half way through the novel, and therefore pivotal, made it even more difficult to work on. So this week I shut myself in, printed it off (again) and sat on the floor with a sharp pencil. Cut, cut, cut. It was the only way. And it didn’t really hurt. Not much. In fact it made me feel so much better. It was therapeutic. Now nobody is ‘looking’, ‘glancing’, ‘raising their eyes’ or equivalent. I think it almost makes sense too. Almost.
Ali Thurm 