*headdesk*

Dear Subtlety,

Where have you gone? Why have you abandoned me?

Wasn't it enough that every extended metaphor I've tried so far has ended up three feet of carp thick? This scene I've just written that started with perfectly subtle humourous touch and ended up repeatedly bashing the reader over the head with nods and winks and taps on the nose, isn't it just going too far? How can you do this to me?

Is it something about writing so fast? Are you still chugging your way through the first few chapters, hoping to catch up with me as soon as you can? Or is it simply that when I'm writing quickly, a subtle or vaguely clever thought that goes through eight rephrasings in my mind ends up with every single one of them on the page, rather than having the best one selected?

Are you just off on a beach somewhere sipping Mai Tais with my Inner Editor? Will you be back in December when he comes back, or have I lost you forever?

Is there any hope left for the two of us?

Wishing you were here,
Lily