Openings

My son-in-law, Dave Junior, has the whole of his first novel mapped out, characters, plot-lines, all sorted. He's a clever chap. Whereas my writing skills are less comprehensive. I write openings. Sure I've knocked out a few short stories and the first thirteen chapters of a novel but I can see the buffers looming up even before I start. Openings are my thing.

Here's one of them:

The entrance is discreetly sandwiched between a gentleman's outfitters and a defunct cafe. It is a simple opening, framed by an arch of rust-coloured wood, blotched by patches of mould and decay. Written across the lintel are the words ‘Independent Chapel’ in a blocky Victorian script. A woman stands in front of the wrought iron gate that guards the access to the cobbled passage beyond. She is slim with shoulder length blonde hair and she holds, in her left hand, a street map. With her other she pushes against the gate. It reluctantly swings open. As she passes into the passage with its rendered walls, painted a deep chocolate colour, her foot brushes against a dog's water bowl; it is empty. Ahead of her, barely visible in the gloom, is the entrance to a building. She can see a flickering glimmer of light creeping out from under a heavy studded door.

I'd obviously been reading something Dickensian that day. I did make this opening into a whole chapter but I'm now lost in a sea of indecision. Where does it go?

And another:

The dog sniffed curiously at his master's backside. It was a habit he couldn't shake off despite the inevitable swipe across his muzzle. Thwack! There it was. Holding back a whimper, he slunk off to find a doorway he could lie across inconveniently.

Do I make that into a dog's point-of-view story? Do I know anything about dogs? Do I want to? I've probably got a dozen or so openings hidden away. I wonder if there's a market for them? Openings-R-Us?

The trouble with the whole writing thing is that I've been reading a lot recently and I find it very counter-productive. I don't get inspired by other writers, just deflated. The one's I like to read are too damn good at it.

None of the above has much to do with today's picture which is yet another of my Snow Gum shots from Australia's Snowy Mountains. I suppose books are usually written on paper and the main component of paper is wood and wood comes from trees. It's a thin thread of connectivity but it's all I have.