Rose Cottage
Early on, maybe in the first draft, I had a character who lived in a charming but slovenly cottage. The walls were biscuit coloured and they glowed with warmth from the sun on the outside and from the owner of the cottage within.
As time passed, however, this character became less slovenly ... more precise, even pedantic.
I had to evict her from the charming cottage with roses cascading over the door and place her in more suitable - and more sober - accommodation.
Then, in the third draft, I realised that there was somebody in my story who could live behind these wooden shutters, somebody who never appears but who links several characters to one another.
