I didn't ejaculate, 'good afternoon.'

There was a woman walking her dogs by the river today. A very loud woman. I heard her rather than saw her at first. And she sounded like the sort of woman who would start a conversation with a dog-walker.

Now when I'm out with George that's it. I don't mind exchanging pleasantries but conversation with strangers is a no no. I like to retire into my own world where the only people I speak to are George and me. I'm not that fast a walker but obviously faster than she was and I was soon catching up with her and it got to the point where I had to make that decision. The 'do I speed up and stride past with an afternoon nod' or 'do I slow down to give her time to get away from me'?

Dog walkers are notoriously bad at doing what you hope they will do so I usually opt for the speeding up option although then it becomes less of an afternoon nod and more of an afternoon gasp as I pass.

It was particularly crucial this afternoon as I was working on the plot of novel 4. As I mentioned on Facebook it is so convoluted you could remove a cork from a wine bottle with it. Ah yes, a question: can mobile phones be traced just because they exist? Even if they're switched off? A question for the writer's friend, Google, methinks.

I'm good (I think) at writing dialogue but less good at description. I don't mean pretty sunsety type description but description of the action, telling the reader what is happening. (I know show don't tell is the rule but you have to tell to a certain extent in order to show.) When I do include it it sounds a bit flat.

I've looked at other novels I've enjoyed, ones of which I like the style, and action is usually written in those in a similar way. Basic he did this, she did that sort of stuff. Maybe it's like 'said'. Again one of the oft quoted rules is not to use a lot of fancy verbs when said would do. For example, "'That's amazing,' she ejaculated." It can detract from the story and is unnecessary. Normally if a word is repeated a lot the reader will pick up on it and possibly start to get annoyed but 'said' becomes almost invisible. So perhaps when describing action it works the same way: simple is best. At least in my sort of writing. I'm not fancy.

Or maybe I should write a screenplay.