Warning – pretentious post incoming.
Last year, I wrote a post called A SENSE OF PERSPECTIVE about how, following a trip to the Canary Islands, I’d been thinking about the way our view of the world is affected by travelling. We’re just back from another trip to the Canaries – Tenerife, this time – and I unexpectedly had another overseas encounter that made me reassess my perspective. There are similarities with aspects of the writing process, so I thought I’d share it here.
This year’s summer holiday was a very different proposition. Usually, Lisa and I sneak away for a little sun on our own, but this time five of us travelled. Our prime objective was to drink and eat and relax, but we did venture out beyond the walls of our hotel and the local beach. We took an evening excursion to MOUNT TEIDE, which is the highest point in Spain. It’s also a popular spot for stargazing because there’s no light pollution. Living on the outskirts of Birmingham, I’m sure you can appreciate that our skies at home are very light polluted.
So we took a coach trip along a very long and very winding road, breaking through the cloud cover and stopping on the way to eat at a lovely little winery, before reaching a spot very close to the top of the mountain. We got off the coach and looked up and yes – it was dark and we could see plenty of stars, but it wasn’t anything like the spectacle we’d been promised.
And then…
As the time passed and our eyes became accustomed to the light levels, more and more of the heavens were steadily revealed. It really was incredible, and by the time we’d been outside looking up for more than an hour, there were more stars than we’d ever seen. Our guide pointed out the constellations and planets, and we watched satellites racing overhead as they orbited the planet. Eventually, what appeared to be a fog bank in the sky revealed itself as the Milky Way. Honestly, it was remarkable. The photograph below doesn’t even begin to do it justice.
On the drive back to the hotel, two thoughts kept rattling around my head. Firstly, seeing such an astonishing expanse of space made me again consider perspective. There’s nothing like seeing something immeasurably vast to remind us just how small and insignificant we really are!
Second – and this is why I’m posting these ramblings here – the experience of watching more and more of the night sky gradually being revealed reminded me of the process of writing a novel. I told you this was going to get pretentious, but it’s true… for me, a novel starts with the bright spark of an idea and little else, but the longer I stare at it, the more detail is gradually revealed. The longer you’re focused on that idea, the brighter and more distinct the plot points and the characters become. You keep looking, keep staring, keep writing, and eventually it’ll all become visible.
Thank you for indulging my nonsense. I’ll now get back to writing about zombies.
