Second person and research. Wednesday 4 March 2009.

It is exhausting trying to write fiction; you can never relax. All the time you’re driving Stuart Maconie, or Andrew Marr or Alan Bennett reading an audio book or Terry Wogan are inundating you with nicely turned phrases or agreeable expressions – just when you’re least able to jot them down with a view to stealing/borrowing them.

On Friday you had to drive thirty miles in rush-hour traffic repeating the phrase “reserve that hides the hurt” (courtesy of Anita Shreeve) over and over so you didn’t forget it before you arrived home. And now it doesn’t seem that special out of context; you’ll still find a slot for it though.

All that last bit was written in second person. I used to think that second person had little to recommend it but now I find it quite chummy (back to first person).














this is Ellie managing to look lovely as the Tinman (and David as Colonel Harland Sanders).





to be continued....