Rewrite: Day 28. Brain sieving the novel.

No rewriting today as such but I did manage a 750 words stint this afternoon in which I continued to put the novel through the brain sieve using the two headings:

• Getting inside Broderick's head
• Getting inside the story dynamic 

Here are some extracts (edited and expurgated):

Archaeology is the focus of Broderick's thinking. He is interested in what the excavation is telling him about the life and times of the site. He is interested in the broad scale, the big picture - the life in terms of social development and economic progress and the times in terms of politics, leaders and nations - but he is also interested in the small scale, the smaller picture of individual lives, people, families, births and deaths. This is what Broderick is thinking about. The [expurgated event] is unfortunate, yes, it is very unfortunate, but it is an irritation, a side show, it is not the main event.

Broderick organises his team to interpret the archaeology and he excavates further on the Corn Hill site but there is a time limit and they have to push on. It is also a student demonstration dig so he has to make room for the students and give them time and this increases the pressure. Although [certain events] are not important for him, they crop up around every corner, forcing themselves on his attention whether he likes it or not and as often as they crop up, he pushes them down and as often as he dismisses them from his life, they pop up again like corks in water.

A new student dig begins and they discover new archaeology but something goes badly wrong and [a certain person] is called in to help. They return for the second season but before they get started a tragedy occurs and Broderick is thrown off keel. [Another certain person] walks out and things go from bad to worse.

That gives you a flavour (without giving too much away, I hope)

Ends