But what does my desk look like, I hear you cry? Here she is...
My almost-completed Smash Book sits on the laptop stand (the laptop is with me in the lounge; as my writing room is the cupboard-under-the-stairs there is no window, and the sun is shining so I can't ignore it, or I mightn't see it again for the rest of the week!); while my Novel Number Two notebook (fabulously fashion-themed with a sewing machine on the cover) is on the book-stand - it's waiting for me to use it again to write some more narrative, but I've only got 2 double-spread pages left to fill of my Smash Book...
It's all connected, though, so hopefully Novel Number Two will let me off! I'm using the pink Smash Book as a characterisation and plotting aid, using scrapbooking techniques to capture personalities, atmospheres and happenings. It's been a real boost to my craft- and writing- creativity and I've really enjoyed doing it! I hope you'd like to see some pages as much as I'd like to share them with you:
As Novel Number Two is about Lilli, a dressmaker, I knew I needed to get her designing and see her scribbles...
...and it's also about her daughter, Anna, who follows in her mother's footsteps - but I needed to see how she'll indulge her love of handbags when she should be sketching clothes!
When I visited Paris in 2011 (was it really over a year ago?!), I was most inspired by the Musee d'Orsay and decided my characters should be too. To start with, my love of these Smash Book library pages stopped any intentions of using them for a lay-out, until I was looking at my pics of the Musee and realised the mix of art and books, gallery and library worked wonders!
Another Parisian favourite was Laduree and their delicious macaroons - and again, my characters had to copy! Lucky I did some research, though, as there was only 4 flavours when Lilli would've been in Paris, while 20-odd years later, lucky Anna gets the pick of 26 or so!
I have a feeling I shall have to finish the Smash Book before I can get on with some more narrative writing, but that shan't be long in coming! Have a fab week all,
~ ttfn ~
