Often when I’m creating a new scene, at first I see only dim shapes moving, as if through layers on layers of plastic wrap. Maybe I see three people and guess who they are. I write that down. On the next revision, some layers are gone; the faces are coming into view. Another revision and how, yes, you see what they’re wearing, what’s in their hands, how they move, details of their space, the words they say. In the very last scene of When We Were Strangers, I saw Molly there, just that, and then the color of her dress and finally Irma reaching, despite herself, to study the seams. How do you visualize your revision process? What is your plastic wrap?
Pamela Schoenewaldt, historical novels of immigration and the search for self in new worlds: WHEN WE WERE STRANGERS, SWIMMING IN THE MOON, and UNDER THE SAME BLUE SKY (all HarperCollins).
pamelaschoenewaldt.com 
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