Saturday, September 06, 2008

what does the night smell of?

"It smells like night in here"

The source of the smell was a room-spray scented with nutmeg. I don't really like nutmeg, but why does it smell like the night? And it really does. I sniffed a nutmeg candle today and it made me think of pillows and sleep.

*Edit : just looked 'nutmeg' up and apparently it's famously used as a sedative. Nicholas Culpeper (1616) an English herbalist says it can "induce sleep delirium". It is also said to excite sexual passion and is one of the ingredients of a magical perfume described in the black books of sorcerers : intriguing!*

I've written a whole feature (nearly) and have only just realised why it's not working. There is no real sense of jeopardy, there's such a thing as a too passive protagonist, and in my case I have one - he needs a kick up the arse. Bummer. I've also realised that while there's a lot of passion in it, it's not about sex or desire... it's about loneliness. Woop.

Back to square -1 but with a little more hope and purpose than expected.

What do YOU think the night smells of?

3 comments:

Andrew Tibbs said...

Isn't nutmeg a Christmassy smell? I'm about to write a sex scene! Thought I'd just throw that in there.

Mandy Lee said...

It IS Christmassy too, hmmm. That makes me feel a bit shifty, Mr T, like I know something I shouldn't.

Andrew Tibbs said...

Still haven't written it. Isn't procastination a wonderful thing.

I'll do a blog entry about the whole script thing tomorrow or Monday.