A few days before I was due in Brighton for the recording of my radio story, Cecilia the producer rang to say that the story did, after all, feel a bit short: could I make it a bit longer? When it comes to revisions I'm basically an adder, not a cutter, so it's not an inherently unnatural process, although you always worry that you're adding fat rather than muscle to the bones of the story. I didn't so much add, as develop latent moments in it, and I was pleased with the result. I read it for time - slowing down to my best guess at performance speed, and it was just right: 13.30 minutes. But, just in case, I marked some bits that could come out if necessary.

On Tuesday morning I hopped on a train and wizzed down to the headquarters of Pier Productions. Pier may occupy a house which one of Georgette Heyer's heroines would recognise, but at the top is a radio recording studio and there, reading my story aloud, was actor Philip Voss, with Cecilia and the production assistant, stopwatch in hand. As you'd expect in a stalwart of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Philip has the most wonderful voice; full and flexible.

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This excellent revival was a reminder of how Greek Tragedy achieved its so-called 'cathartic' effect,i.e. put the audience through the wringer, by imposing strict rules or 'unities' on the form of the play. The action must happen within 24 hours, which sets a pace as demanding as any modern thriller. Unity of theme demands the story concern an individual or small group, here the royal house of Thebes, concerned with one big issue,in this case patriotism.

The main strength, though, derives from the rule about unity of place, or having to stick to one location.


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...but then I received this. Try reading it in the context of writing, subbing and being recognised:

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

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Well I hope I have made a positive move in making my "creative scribbles" in to something with more meaning by joining this site. It will take me a while to find my way around but so far it has been very useful, helpful and thought provoking. Got to be a good start!

'Are these lockers safe?' an American woman asked me. 'They used to have guards'.

I directed her to the counter-service where you hand over your bags and coats, as in a museum. Using the locker room means you don't have to queue at the desk and you can access the locker easily all day.

'Yes, but are the guards to be trusted?'

I supposed it's marginally safer to hand in bags at the counter, although thieves would have to be very nifty to jemmy one of the lockers open, given the constant traffic. Since free Wifi and chair-desks in the public areas were installed it's very busy.

The forecast of high temperatures this week was my cue to spend a couple of days in the British Library.

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Whenever an editor or agent is lured into listing the things which put them off a manuscript, it seems that well up the list is a novel which starts with someone waking up. And top of the list is the subset of these which start with the protagonist waking up with a hangover or a head wound. "But - but - but -" thousands of aspiring writers cry, and they have a point. What about The Metamorphosis, just for a start? Indeed, the unrevised version of my new novel began with someone being woken up, and if that narrator hadn't been axed in revisions it still would: the opening wasn't the problem.

As so often, when agents and editors start talking, they're talking about what they see - the many waking-up openings that don't work - and they blame the waking up for it, not the not-working. That doesn't mean it's not worth knowing these things about agently reactions; if you're doing something agents know from experience is usually done badly (prologues are another example) then your mss is starting off on the back foot, and you'd better make extra-sure that it works in every other way. But, fundamentally, when a waking-up opening fails it isn't because it's a scene involving a duvet and pillows (or a stained horseblanket and heap of straw), or that the next paragraph starts with drawing back curtains or hacking down the stable door.

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