Lockdown!
Twelve days into lockdown and you’d think these were ideal conditions in which to write a novel. After all, apart from a walk every day, I am going nowhere and I am seeing no-one except my daughter – and of course the cats. No trips to London. No lunches with friends. And yet, the time seems somehow to get filled up. I am cooking a lot more than usual, and I’m also having a very sociable time: emailing, FaceTiming, getting together with my book group on Zoom, and telephoning far, far more than usual. We’ve even managed to play games with my stepson and his wife via FaceTime. They live fifteen minutes drive away, but they might as well be on the moon for all person-to-person contact we are having with them.
But it is more than being busy that makes it hard to get on with the next novel. The turmoil in the outside world makes it difficult to settle to anything. It doesn’t help that I am at the beginning of the planning and plotting stage. It’s hard to get into the roaming, free-range state of mind that’s needed for generating ideas. A number of other writers are having the same problem.
Still, the novel is gradually coming into focus. This time my main character, Katie Flanagan, is going to the Arctic circle on an expedition tracing the route of the doomed Franklin expedition to find the fabled North-West Passage. I won’t be giving anything away when I say that things do not go according to plan . . .
The photograph is of primroses in our garden.
16 Comments
Margot Kinberg
April 4, 2020The flowers are lovely, Christine – thanks for sharing them. I know what you mean about use of time and distractions, too. It is hard to settle and focus when everything is so unsettled, isn’t it? I’m glad you’re making progress on your novel, though, and I’ll bet it will be great.
Christine Poulson
April 4, 2020Thanks, Margot! Yes, I think we have to cut ourselves some slack. We are adjusting to a strange new reality and that takes up mental and emotional energy. I often think of you and my other friends at a distance. Thank goodness for the internet.
Helen Raie Hardie
April 4, 2020Dear Christine
the turmoil is dreadful … so hard to believe it is all happening …. but
re your novel and the John Franklin expedition .. I just wanted to put in a word in defence of Lady Franklin. I do hope you treat her kindly …. I believe she is often harshly and unjustly dealt with ….. as an Enlightenment woman I think she did more than could be expected of her .. .. I hope you feel the same ….
Hoping the next week brings better news for us all
best and kindest wishes
Helen Hardie
Christine Poulson
April 4, 2020Yes, indeed! It is a big adjustment, accepting our new reality and not knowing what will happen next.
I am fascinated by the Franklin expedition, one of the greatest mysteries of the 19th century, and the ships only discovered so recently. Lady Franklin was an extraordinary woman – and I will try to be kind!
Yes, hoping for better news, warm and kind regards.
Jean Briggs
April 4, 2020Hello there, I know what you mean. It is all very dreadful and makes it hard to concentrate, I think. I’m nearly at the end of a new book and have just become stuck at a crucial moment. Keep hoping inspiration will come.
As to Franklin – he’s on my radar (not quite the right metaphor!). Dickens was fascinated, too. During recent proof-reading of another book, I looked again at Dickens’s comments on the expedition which he wrote about for Household Words in which he expressed a hope that they would be home for Christmas. Dickens was also invited to a dinner for Sir Edward Belcher and Captain Henry Kellett who were going to the Arctic in the Resolute in search of Franklin.
Nice coincidence. Perhaps, we will adjust well enough to get on with some work. We should have been looking forward to the conference now. One day, we’ll have that lunch, too. Hope you and yours keep well. All best, Jean
Christine Poulson
April 5, 2020Lovely to hear from you, Jean. Perhaps writing about being stuck has unstuck me, because I did have an idea about how to start the new novel yesterday while I was out for my walk! Good luck with yours.
I’d realised that Dickens was fascinated by the mystery of the Franklin expedition as so many people were. Wasn’t he involved with a pro-Franklin play called The Frozen Deep?
Yes, let’s have that lunch, feels part of a different world, but it will return one day.
tracybham
April 4, 2020I am glad to hear you are working on another Katie Flanagan novel, but not surprised that it is hard to write at this time. I can’t focus and get little done during a day and I am sure that is a common affliction. My husband is working at home, across the dining room table from me, and I honestly don’t know how he stays focused on the work.
It is good to hear that you are doing well otherwise.
Christine Poulson
April 5, 2020Thanks, I am the same, Tracy. It is surprising how little I seem to get done in a day! Perhaps writing about being stuck has unstuck me: I’ve had an idea how to start the novel. I
I hope all is well with you and your family.
Deborah Mainwaring
April 5, 2020Down under in New Zealand, the lockdown is into its second week and the flavour is autumnal. Even in a country with small population and much isolation for many of its citizens, everyone is having to learn how to behave as good citizens and not many people are good at it thusfar. Not being able to settle the internal agitation is probably a worldwide illness of unease. Our mantra is becoming: you may want it, but do you NEED it? If it is want instead of need, we have to settle back and wait. So plotting a new novel in any part of the world, is truly an act of discipline and courage as the most unknown, frightening and open-ended storyline unrolls in front of us, not on the page. Let’s hope we learn something valuable from all this and keep it fresh in our minds if ever we can relax again.
On that note, I am recommending to anyone who wants a stunning read to get a copy of The Overstory by Richard Powers. It is about humans and their relationship and blindness to the trees of this planet — but it is not dry or finger-shaking. It is lovely, beautiful, pit-of-the-stomach powerful, and with an intricate cast of characters interwoven into a truly redemptive tale about ourselves with all our arrogance and flaws. It is my recommended book of the decade, pandemic or no pandemic to keep me in my chair as a reader.
Christine Poulson
April 5, 2020Thanks, Deb. We are lucky in that the days are getting warmer and longer. I feel it would be much tougher to be going into winter. On the whole people ARE behaving responsibly here. We see what’s happened – and is still happening – in Italy.
The Overstory by Richard Powers – yes! – my book group chose this as our long summer read. Every year we choose a book that is a bit too hefty to read in a month and allow ourselves plenty of time. It is on my desk beside me as I write. I see it won a Pulitzer Prize. Looking forward to reading it. I am consoled by the wonderful trees around me – they were here before me and will still be here after me – and the blossoming spring flowers.
Deborah Mainwaring
April 5, 2020I have to warn you, it is written in the dreaded present-tense. I seem to remember you find that an unwanted irritant. Persevere with this one, if you can — it is splendid.
Christine Poulson
April 6, 2020You are right, but I can get past that if the book is good enough.
Susan D
April 7, 2020Ah, Franklin again. Amazing how, for a man who vanished 175 years ago, he just keeps popping up. This is the third time (or is it fourth?) since I started hunkering down. I know you’ve probably read a ton of books referencing him by now, but in case you’ve missed it and can bear one more, I recommend Kathleen Winter’s travel memoir, Boundless. And yes, things do not go according to plan. :^0
Christine Poulson
April 7, 2020How funny that you have kept coming across him! I hadn’t heard of that book, Susan, and I absolutely must read it. In fact I have already ordered it.
Moira@Clothes in Books
April 12, 2020I love the idea that Katie is circling the world from top to bottom! Good luck with writing and inspiration…
Christine Poulson
April 12, 2020Thanks, Moira. Have to say, I am still struggling. Having a few days off and hoping to get back to it next week.