For my birthday, my husband treated me to a trip to the Chelsea Flower Show, quite an effort considering we live in Scotland. We made it into a two and a half day trip, meeting a dear friend Rita on the first afternoon, having made an early start in catching the 6am train. Rita lives in Kent and so it made sense, also she knows the area around St Pancras Station.
Out of remnants of history grows an idea
We met Rita at the station then walked the short distance to Coal Drops Yard, a derelict area renovated and made into a celebration of historical significance about the area, the canal lock and the restored gasometers (converted into posh flats and a garden), as well as a chique place of eateries and shops.
Like a novel, all it takes is a place, person in history, idea or sudden inspiration, for the seed of a novel to grow. History always inspires me and the overlapping of people’s lives in the past, on the canal or for local industry, with those in the present fascinates me. The past resonates and influences the present.
Arrival at the Chelsea Flower Show
The following day we headed for the Chelsea Flower Show, and the excitement and anticipation of the day ahead, was like the pleasure of knowing you have ideas and thoughts, as your mind goes on a journey of all you have to do ahead: research, notes, visits, talks.
Questions leap out of nowhere. To the show they are: What new plants would we see? What is the emphasis on planting strategies this year? What themes would be included? Will there be an underlying message?
Not much different to the thoughts and questions as you prepare to write a novel are they?
New Plants ~ Novel Ideas
THE WOW FACTOR
It was seeing the ‘After the Fire’ display from South Africa which really shouted out at me. The beauty following the devastation, the unusual plants, the vivid colours.
All of us want our writing to tell a unique story, to make our readers sit up. If our novel does not have something different to tell, is it worth writing? My first novel RIDUNA was unique because it was set on the unfamiliar island of Alderney, during a period on history when little is written. Readers like a a resolution, following the adventure, tension, trauma or tragedy.
Themes of Planting ~ Themes of Writing
Each garden had a theme, as expected, from an awareness of women’s health to valuing the hedgerows, the marginal land often ignored but natures was of giving us beauty:
Other themes which ‘spoke’ to me included The Children’s Garden, which emphasised that we are all different, but we’re not perfect. There was an emphasis on the restorative power of gardening and nature too.
All of these themes could be themes in writing. The main themes in RIDUNA were love and loss and island home v longing to get away and see the world. The main themes in my current novel in progress touch on our differences and tensions, when cultures find harmony, merge or clash. We are all different but we’re not perfect, but affection, love, tolerance and friendship can grow.
Planting Strategies ~ Genre
The expected underlying ideas of resilience, drought tolerance and sustainability were at the forefront of planting strategies, as expected in today’s world of a changing climate and a willingness to avoid unnecessary waste. The planting on the whole, although carefully thought out, in most cases was quite freely interpreted. Only the Japanese Garden and The Tate Garden appeared to be ‘traditional’, formal and precise.
The writing world is also on the change, an acceptance of mixed genre, or genre bending ideas abound now, whereas at one time they would be frowned upon, mainly because they are harder to shelve or categorise in bookshops and in libraries.
In my writing, resilience and the healing of the natural world are certainly important, especially with Dot in MISSING, Past and Present. My writing also often touches on different genre, from historical fiction to mystery and maybe a touch of the surreal or supernatural too. Characters are the most important feature of my novels and if my last book has any set genre, it is Literary Fiction, which is far more fluid.
Planning and Writing a Garden ~ Planning and Writing a Novel
I cannot imagine how difficult it is to plan, draft and organise a garden on main avenue ~ the source of plants, ensuring that they are perfect for Chelsea, the structure, the man/woman power in terms of experts and volunteers.
The preparing of the brief is akin to writing a synopsis, but otherwise the writing process can be a very solitary process until the end, where content is checked for authenticity, edits are made and the novel is proof read.
The main similarity I see here, is in knowing the moment when the author or garden designer has to let go and say I’ve done enough. There is not another flower to deadhead, statue to polish … word to change or comma to put in place.
It’s ready for the public.
Then I began to think of her back story. Holding the dice which I had found one day it struck me to be a fantastic tool for Dot’s memories while she was trying to recover from the breakdown of all she had known. (Her memories were not personal ones to me by the way, except maybe one, but I’m not going to admit which one.)
Diana Jackson 