More organizing...and contemplating...

I've got so many files I've downloaded, I'm still going through them. But ideas are formulating. I have a moment in APoS where Brendan follows Joanna and her friends into a music store down Shipquay Street, hears them get excited over a single titled Never Shall I Marry and buys a copy to give her after she leaves...but can't find her. On the reverse side of that single is The Banks of Claudy, which he learns and sings when walking to Claudy to meet up with his brother, Eamonn, who's on the People's Democracy March, not long after.

I was going through comments about the Woolworth's that was on Ferryquay Street and people were reminiscing about buying the latest records there, including 45s. So I start thinking maybe I'll shift it to that shop, instead. Then someone mentioned the candy section, which was grab and mix, and the kinds of candy involved...and I realized another part of the story would make even more sense taking place there.

When he's just turned eleven, Brendan happens onto an argument between one of his friends, Danny, and the boy's father. Brendan can't figure out why they're arguing, but the man slaps or punches Danny, who runs off, his nose bleeding. Brendan catches up to him, takes him to the house of a woman who's friends with his mother and gets him cleaned up. The way it's written now, Brendan convinces Danny to go with him to get some fish and chips...but it would make a lot more sense for a boy of that age to want candy, instead. He's got got money on him, so could afford a nice bag of toffee or caramels or something like that to cheer his mate up.

But...that would mean changing the location of everything...which actually might work better. They'd need to be closer to the Diamond, in the middle of the city...exactly where, I don't know yet...but it just feels a lot more natural this way. And I feel like I'm getting deeper into the story and characters.

I have a map to help work out the logistics. It's from 1946, but redevelopment hadn't changed much of anything, by that point. The Diamond is in the center of the image, with Nailor's Row just to its left and up a little. Shipquay is to the right and Ferryquay is just below. And I can already see how it will work out.

I love it when that happens.