Today before I started editing, I realized that the picture I had in my head might not be accurate enough for the detail I needed to include in my scene. I needed to find a photograph to work from. Or, in this case, I found a video on YouTube that shows a boat passing underneath the Adomi Bridge in Ghana. The part I was interested in was the structure of metal support beams underneath the bridge, so I've cued the below video to start at that section.
I used this video, plus a still photo showing the underside of the bridge, to help me in writing my scene, even though the bridge I’m writing about doesn’t have that glorious arch.
While researching the bridge, I also found a photo of a Ghanaian man in a traditional canoe. I decided that this type of boat was a better choice than the one I'd already described, so having the photo allowed me to tweak the scene to fit this new boat.
So when it comes to my writing, it really is true that a photograph is worth a thousand words. Or, in this case, slightly more than that. I wrote about 1,700 words based on these photos.
