22 August 2005
4 weeks
I've been in France for four weeks researching my next novel. During this time the most extraordinary things have happened.
Firstly, Labyrinth made it on to the best seller lists in the newspapers, magazines and on-line. The brilliant sales team at my publisher, Orion, made sure of that, including over a week spent at number one in the Amazon chart, number one this Friday in the Independent (a chart compiled from sales in Waterstone's) and number three on this weekend's Sunday Times list.
Today, in the Amazon on-line chart, Labyrinth is number two. As a vegetarian, I suppose I should object to number one being a set of recipes, starting with roast chicken, but I think it's a really good book.
Publication of the German-language edition Das verlorene Labyrinth took place a few days ago, with the most extraordinary film footage on the publisher's website, specially commissioned for the launch. You can see it by visiting http://www.droemer-knaur.de/ where you'll find a link to the book.
Droemer also ran a competition among booksellers. A specially made bookmark was given out, the card being punched with holes in various preset locations. The trick was to place the bookmark over the correct page of the 700 page novel - it's only 540 in English! - and reveal a secret message through the holes in the bookmark.
Italian publication is imminent, too, and the terrific team at Piemme have some fantastic ideas ready that I can't reveal.
Greg and I have also just run a second creative writing course at West Dean College. Interestingly, part of our preparation for this took place in France. We had a little spare time between libraries, galleries and historical sites so we met up with a couple of editors and an agent to discuss the issues planned for our weekend course:
- location, dialogue and revision.
The response to location was unanimous - a good location is one that creates an absorbing and intriguing atmosphere, that contributes almost as much as a character to the mood and tone of voice of the novel. And one which can act as counterpoint or complement to the action, the 'imagined sequence of events' ...
Dialogue was a little different. A typical response was: you can either do it or you can't. But that's not completely true. The late French chanteuse Barbara wasn't the most accurate singer, but a wonderful performer. I suppose Mark Knopfler isn't the world's greatest voice, but he seems to get by fronting Dire Straits. So Greg and I try to focus on successful devices that can help a writer uncomfortable with dialogue to make some headway and break up their prose.
Revision was easy, as easy as location. It adds up to this: once you've got a first draft in your hand, you need to look at it objectively (easier said than done!) If you know what you are trying to do with your scene, you can make a clear judgment as to whether you have succeeded - and if not, what might need to be changed to remedy the problem.
Once you've got this knack, you sit down to revise with a clear purpose and don't waste your time in unnecessary tinkering.
In the meantime, I have another book to write ...
Keep writing in the Labyrinth.
