Digressions

In July's Writing Magazine there is an article called 'Thickening the plot', about the good use of digressions in your writing. It is well known that there is always a huge amount more research and background than ever goes into the book. I have already amassed quite a lot of information on the town of Swansea, the daily life of a manor, and the fall of the king, for example, and it would be nice to pass some of that on.

The idea in the article is that, at appropriate points in the narrative, you can digress to give some background or wider information, to make the narrative more interesting. The Kate Summerscale book 'The Suspicions of Mr Whicher' is used as an example. My husband bought it and loved it, and I think I'll read it. It is a classic crime story, but true, and tells of the investigation of a murder by the first real detective, John Whicher. In the process she digresses in enough places to give a comprehensive history of the earliest days of detection, along with fashion, transport, and the Victorian style of living.

I really fancy that idea, so I'll be giving you some digressions as I piece this together, along with the information, as I have started to do so far, and pieces of actual writing as they come. I'm getting excited.