2 February 2004
Turning inward
Labyrinth is an adventure story set in the medieval past and the present day. The story weaves from one time period to another. There is a wide range of characters, with different personalities, interests, responsibilities, religions and/or social classes.
The plot is involved, intricate, convoluted like a Labyrinth. It turns back on itself as it approaches the centre. Sometimes it seems to snake away from its destination, then it turns in once more.
I wrote in last week's Home page diary about the uneasy, threatening sensation that accompanies handing your work over to an outside eye.
This is my third novel - my fifth book. Neither of my first novels - Eskimo Kissing, Crucifix Lane - was as long as Labyrinth. But with both, as I completed the typescript I felt swamped with the amount of detail - events, motivations, clues and counter-clues - that I had to hold in my head.
So as well as being unsettled when I sent my typescript to my agent and it was read and commented on by my husband, Greg, it was also a kind of relief.
Now I have edits to do. These range from changing the order of words in a sentence, to changing the order of paragraphs on a page, to changing the order of events in a chapter. In fact, at some points I will remove a character all together. At others I will write entire new scenes.
My Labyrinth has turned inward, the better to find itself.
