The siren call of the past

The sunny summer weather has meant a few trips to the seaside. Having got The Apple House (the dodgy first novel) into a much more reasonable shape, I've spent a little time working on the latest novel, The Sound of the Sea, trying to use the aforementioned seaside trips to bring a little colour and life into the story.
The Sound of the Sea has two sections: 'past' and 'present' and the narrative jumps between the two. Well, I hope it doesn't jump, I hope it floats seamlessly, though that's possibly a question for another blog post.
I've just finished reading two novels with 'past' and 'present' sections. However, as I read, I find that one section - usually the 'past' - is more interesting than the present.
I'm also finding this as I write the 'past' sections of The Sound of the Sea. These sections seem more alive and to have more resonance than the 'present' sections. Perhaps that's because the landscape of the past (both physical and emotional) is partly based on my own childhood so they seem very easy to write.
However, the 'present' sections feel a bit clunky - somewhere between a bad chick lit novel and a diary entry after a trying day at work. Paradoxically, I feel this is because the character in the 'present' is too close to me.
So, I'm going to try the following. Now that the main character, Clare, finally has a sense of humour, I'm going to try to give her things that are as unlike myself as possible. I'm going to make her a passionate cook and give her a fractured family and a dodgy husband, who may or may not be all he seems.
I'm also going to give her stuff (that's the literary technical term!) to do, so she doesn't just float around, mooning about the past.
So maybe it's OK to have the 'past' section stronger than the 'present', as long as the balance evens itself out in the end.
ends

Continuity Clipboard

I think that 'overhauling' a novel draft is more a case of trying to make sure that the continuity is consistent. I've spent a few  of my 'writing sessions' this week on The Apple House, the dodgy first novel. Some of these sessions were spent tinkering with an earlier draft, when I had actually made more changes in a later draft, which, because I had forgotten to label said draft correctly, I forgot about.
But I was thinking about once being on a film set and there was a continuity woman with a clipboard, meticulously noting every minor detail so that nothing would jar with the viewer in the final film. I realised, as I noted gaps in time sequences, scenes which were too short, or narrative points of view which just weren't necessary, that when it comes to novels, sometimes it is as simple as getting the 'continuity' right.
Can a short, flimsy chapter be moved to be part of a longer chapter, so that everything feels less 'jerky'? Can I jettison one flimsy narrative point of view, knowing that the story will still be complete without it (and the reader won't get bored reading the same thing twice?). Can a 'passive' scene be replaced by some short, snappy dialogue, to liven things up a bit, so that the poor old reader doesn't fall asleep?
Of course, overhauling a novel draft (particularly one you haven't looked at for a long time) requires a level or organisation that sometimes feels at odds with creativity. It also requires a 'chunk' of time which I don't always have.
So, I'm going to try to keep a note of what page number I'm on, what still needs done and tick off what I've done, so when I next pick up the threads of The Apple House, I'll know exactly where I am.
In theory anyway...