Monarchy is a fantastic reason not to go to work. It’s also a fair reason to grab a whisky and watch the Variety Gala from the comfort of one’s living room, which might just happen a little later on today. Depends how the writing goes really.

And speaking of writing, words ahoy!
65,312? Try more like 66,124.

Yesterday’s efforts were more of a re-shuffle than an addition. I found a way to make two different nod-&-handshake situations into high-stakes negotiations, each influencing the outcome of the other. What inspired me to go through and edit for this in particular? Because revising all of the characters has made me notice that I’d left the gates open…

When we write a first draft, most of us probably just barrel through on the first run, knowing it might be a bit whiffy and lopsided, trusting to our sober self to pick up the pieces in the editing, down the track. Nothing wrong with this approach. Nothing at all. It does however leave us with one small issue – barreling through leaves a lot of gates and doors open behind us. Why wouldn’t two people with entirely different goals decide to team up? Why shouldn’t the spy divulge ten years of accumulated intelligence just because you bought her a drink? Those are some extreme examples, but it could be far more subtle than that. Perhaps their goals do align, maybe they would make a good team, but have they earned each others’ trust? Did they strike a deal with terms, or just bump fists and then skip away together arm-in-arm?

In real life: how often have you ended up sandwiched into the middle seat rather than riding shotgun? How often did the breakfast menu finish as you walked in the door? How many times did you hear “No”?

Your hero or heroine might be a bad mother (in the James Brown sense). That doesn’t mean they aren’t going to meet with a lot of resistance.

Go back and shut the damn gates.

Best regards,

D.R.Sylvester