I have come at last to the section of the new novel that I’ve been looking forward to writing for some time. The appearance of the eponymous object referred to in the title, the ship which will take my hero on his great adventure, and though I have been anticipating this part for all this time I neglected to do one little thing.
Figure out what the damn thing looks like.
This is not a small—nor uncommon—problem. I mean, I imagined this scene where the hero is confronted by the ship he needs, appearing as if by magic. An important ship in more ways than just as transportation. This is the Argo, the Golden Hind, the Chimera, the Santa Maria, Nautilus all rolled into one. But while I imagined where it came from and the hero’s reaction to it and all the wonderful things it has to do…
I didn’t imagine its appearance.
So now I’m sitting her toying with all manner of design, just to make it unique and feeling just a bit chagrined. I would like to be like those writers who, when they hit a snag like this, can just plug a placeholder in and go on. But I’ve never been able to do that. It has to be at least close to what it will end up being.
Ah me. At least I know how big the damn thing needs to be. I think.