Twisting Streamers

Every good family party needs a few streamers, and last night’s 65th birthday celebration for my mother-in-law was no exception. Now, here’s the thing. Too many twists on a streamer look bad. The secret is to tape one side on a wall and then walk to the wall on the room’s other side. Before you tape this final side of the streamer, twist the streamer four or five times. This gives the streamer a nice twirled look (rather than it hanging flat and slovenly).

Random? I think not. I’m outlining Book #2, trying to think of devilish plots to ooh and awe you. Every book needs a couple of surprises in it. But, there’s such a thing as overdoing it. An over-abundance of twists and the story loses its focus, becoming so convoluted that you lose the reader. It’s like twisting a streamer one time too many. A few twists help things but give one too many and all you have is a knotted mess.

And, no, I didn’t do the streamers for the party. I did, however, eat lots of cake. Time to give that outline some more thought and perhaps a final twist.