Downs and Ups

Yesterday finished disillusioned, crotchety and, although not fully despairing, bad enough to need a sneaky, well-heaped teaspoonful of chocolate spread to attempt to restore my belief that, sometimes, when the moon and stars were right, and in alignment, I could write.

The reason for this was I'd finished reading through my most recent work in progress.  Had, for much of it, been quite impressed, especially at the bits I'd no recollection of writing.   But the end.  Oh the end.  Was wrong and self-indulgent, irrelevant and totally off-topic.  Brought in new characters who really did not deserve their place, took attention away from the main character (who in any case was struggling to assert himself at times).
And I still have not quite decided how the second body came to be dead.  Still do not know which of the two most likely was finally responsible for the dastardly deed.  The evidence mounts up quite nicely, tension builds between MC and rival, there is character development (though not quite enough) - but only seventy-four thousand words.

This morning, with a couple of yesterday's tried-but-failed, prompt-led diversions rattling round my head, an idea for each took root, grew shoots, produced a lovely phrase or two, a voice, a phone conversation and a couple of neat endings.
Having polished them successfully, posted them, and put the washing out, I'm now ready to tackle Susannah Elphinstone again.