Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The novel veers




I know it's hard to see this (blame a cell phone photo and a shakey hand) but this is a photograph of the amazing Falls that are under the Brooklyn Bridge. I love the Brooklyn Bridge with a passion, and I also love Brooklyn. We just happened to be at the Seaport listening to live music, getting ice cream, when we noticed them in the distance--one of the things we had been meaning to see but kept forgetting. It truly was strange--you don't expect waterfalls from the Brooklyn Bridge!

Speaking of strange connections...One of the most amazing things about writing a novel is the surprise of it. I've been writing this scene for what seems like weeks, and suddenly, something new turned up. It took a whole different and dramatic direction and almost seems in danger of becoming a whole new idea for a novel itself. Is that good or bad, I wonder? How does any writer stay on track when the muse veers away from the outline you had intended?

3 comments:

Katharine Weber said...

This IS the track!

Clea Simon said...

Yeah, I was about to say, "You don't!"
love the photo.

gregg0923 said...

See Hart Crane, "The Bridge," and others.

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5754