This week I’ve been unsettled as I wait to receive my manuscript back from the editor, so I can go over my work for the last time. I have all the extra bits of writing required for sending off to publishers, even the dratted synopsis, waiting in the wings. The synopsis was scrutinised by my husband, daughter, and members of my writing group, and finally I was happy with it.
While pacing my study, I looked at the two beautiful persimmon I was given the other day languishing on my desk and knew what would help me relax. I would draw the fruit!
I sat down to begin a pencil sketch this morning, but was diverted by some cloud drawings I found in the sketch pad, so … I decided to put these together for this week’s post. Just a brief description of the mediums used, and not so much of a story this time. The top six sketches are from the Devonport area near my home, the seventh sketched on Waiheke Island, and the eighth done in Port Douglas Australia.
I usually sketch out the scene quickly, returning to fill out detail. I so love sketching clouds.
It certainly can. Last Friday I joined my daughter Lara on a road trip from Auckland through to Wellington. It was so good to be away from the city and the cars that crowd our highways as we drove the back routes with few people on the roads. We skirted Hamilton, past Waitomo and onto Tauramunui, the weather truly perfect for this special ride. We stopped often to take photos of the countryside.
A view of Mt Ruapehu (my photo)
Lara had hinted at a stop-over a day or two earlier, but kept it a surprise. She kept me guessing the destination all the way, hinting at Raglan at one point, where I’d thought, ‘nice, haven’t been there for a while,’ and then past Otorohanga, where we’d both seen Kiwi some years ago. But no. We pulled over for lunch, and filled up the car, and turned back to join the Forgotten Highway, a place now popular with sporty types who like to go biking in forest terrain. There’s a railroad alongside the road which runs trips for tourists using rail carts. The long road stretches between Tauramunui and New Plymouth and takes in hilltop views and ocean vistas amongst its many splendours.
A recent photo of Oriental Bay, Wellington [photo V. Lingard]
Yes, the first draft is done, and now sits with the reader, though I would like to add a little more about what went into reaching that goal. Writers will know that it isn’t just a matter of coming up with a great idea and sitting at the computer and let the words fill the pages, easy peasy. There is the matter of plotting, and making a loose timeline. For me the setting was 1970s Wellington and the years my protagonist lived there. I sketch this out by hand rather than type it up, and mark where I think specific scenes, or events may occur. What was happening during those years? Research next, to top up my memory of these times. So much goes into this, for example: what movies were shown, what music was played, who was prime minister, what sports were popular, what programmes ran on the radio? You get the idea.
ARTISTRY 