h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In preparation for the second year of the US Creative Writing Programme, we've been asked to choose a 'Special Author'. The idea is to choose a book, or books by an author we admire, and explore elements of their style, structure, content and theme. We should use this study to inform our own approach to writing.

I was drawn to Rose Tremain's 'The Road Home', which follows the experiences of Lev, an immigrant to Britain. I kept thinking about the problems that Lev encounters when I was trying to write about my heroine's attempts to work in France. In the end, though, I have chosen Rose Tremain's 'Trespass' instead. This is partly because the story centres on an old house in France, as mine does. It uses the third person limited approach to story telling, but follows several characters.

I was struck by the sheer amount of detail Rose Tremain provides about the background of her characters. At the moment, I don't know enough about my characters and I'm worrying that I haven't done much research. I've done a bit, reading books about living in France, doing up your French house, and the life of a French restaurant. And I've found Google maps useful. But there are lots of gaps and it's going to take ages to fill them.

Why did I start out on this project with such gay abandon?