A Sneak Peak Behind The Scenes
I have been tagged by Kathryn Apel @KatApel to talk about my current work in progress (WIP).
The challenge is to share 7 lines from page 7 or 77 of a current WIP.
You can read her snippet here.
My current WIP is a verse novel, The Broken Chord. As it’s a verse novel, it hasn’t reached seventy-seven pages in length yet (almost there – about 65% towards expected target of 20K). So, page 7 it is.
Here’s the blurb:
At the beginning of Caitlyn-Rose’s final year of high school she begins to question her relationship with her father, her music, her boyfriend Jack, and what she wants to do when she leaves school. Behind it all, the loss of her mother six years earlier lingers in the echoes of her heart.
I went a bit beyond the seven lines suggested, to give you a sense of the character and story. And it’s only a rough first draft, so go easy.
Going Home
Other days it’s just me, a cup of tea and my homework
In the quietness of the house; I usually work without music playing
While the shadows lengthen and shroud the page I’m working on
Forcing me to turn on the light
When it’s just me, the quietness is an emptiness
Jack is a quiet individual but he fills the space
With warmth and heart and muttered curses
When he loses a game
The quietness sits awkwardly on my shoulders
Never settling, like a jacket that’s too tight
The darker the room becomes, the tighter the fit
And not even the blaring of the stereo will shift it
A Fullness in Brevity - Adam Byatt 
I like it! I started a verse novel too, a while back, though haven’t taken it any further yet and only have a couple of chapters…reading this might just inspire me to revisit:-) Genuinely like this, do let us know when it’s done. What’s your best guess at when it’ll be finished?
H xxx
I encourage you to get back to yours. My aim is to have a draft finished by the end of the year and then hit the revisions soon after. Would hope to have a finalised version by middle of next year. It’s very rough at the moment and the editing will take some time as I look at the poetic forms I want to use to reflect either the content of the poem or the mindset of the character. I have used free verse, more structured stanza forms but this will be the focus of the editing.
An interesting snippet, Adam. Your jacket imagery is very effective! Thanks for sharing – and playing the game. 🙂
Now to get this first draft of a verse novel finished!
What happens next?!
That’s still up for debate. At this stage, this extract comes from an early poem in the novel. It’s an introduction to the main character, Caitlyn-Rose and her relationship with her boyfriend, Jack.
I’m still thinking through a couple of plot points and how they will fit into the overall narrative arc.
I plan to do a print out soon once I near the target word count and develop the narrative arc and symbolism, motifs before finishing the first draft.