Say a locksmith comes to a character's house to open a locked door in your novel. Guess what? Unless that person figures into the novel later, or the interaction has some other meaning, just cut to the effin' door being open. No one gives a flying f*ck about the locksmith in this context.
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(1,157 pp)
And sometimes? You just need the locksmith.
#Sad
The tall handsome locksmith confidently approaches the door, twirling a medium hook and a 40 thousandths turning tool in his dexterous and well manicured fingers.
In one deft motion he inserts the turning tool and begins picking the lock.
“Nothing on two…” he intones.
“A click on three.”
Another faint click is heard.
“Another click on four… and it feels set”
“A click on five and some counter rotation” he says with slight intrigue.
“NOW five feels set.. let’s go back to the start.”
He speaks calmly yet with the slightest hint of excitement.
“Still nothing on one… a click on two annnddd we’ve got this open!”
He opens the door then immediately shuts it!
A serene look of joy crosses his face as the final words escape his mouth.
“Let’s do that again to prove it wasn’t a fluke”.
-witch from Robin Hood
"Within minutes, he effortlessly unlocked the door, handed me the bill, and departed without delay."
And was never heard from again.
cut to: a security guard counting the money the operator handed him, as the two walk into the place
"It's not like he defeated a Balrog or something cool"
"Um, actually..."
"Well not lately. He's basically a horse uber"
Droning on about the blacksmith would have been... preferable...
What did their work vehicle look like?
What did their uniform look like?
Where they handsome/beautiful?
Did they smell good?
Did they witness anything or will they come back to rob the place?
Yeah, there are these evil machine Gods and intergalactic alien espionage and stuff, but how do they check their email?! Inquiring minds want to know!!!
Does the locksmith not wonder about their own door if they can open a locksmith’s door?
Maybe a locksmith is opening the locksmith’s door whilst the locksmith is opening the locksmith’s door?
https://youtu.be/4fh6IHCr7uo?si=BJCHP4RE0hLp9gTc
A SF/F author I’ve been reading for dozens of books over decades routinely describes what characters are eating. It’s usually the same thing, or a variation of. It’s mundane. It adds nothing to the plot. Purely slice of life vignettes. And I adore them, without knowing why.
Anyone who has no idea how to pick a lock and watched that channel, would be at the edge of their seat.
“Who are you and how did you get in here?”
“I’m a locksmith. And I’m a locksmith.”
Or choose sufficiency of detail and narrative flow.
Doing both achieves neither I think.
That’s how you stretch a short story into a novel…
Changing a lock could be an important detail.
Locksmiths are cool
Same with your gratuitious sex, violence, and descriptions of food (I'm looking at you Sarah J. Mass with that last one).
(Opening line: "Call me ... during regular business hours.")
"Huh, another scarred individual, like the rest... but whom I cannot simply ignore but will toss a coin bcz I can't distance myself from these people so much anymore..."
I have several soldiers in my WIP without names. They don't need names. They're just to make the story go.