In the scene, Sandy and Neal have traveled to Crescent City, California--Sandy's hometown. Sandy gets up early the morning of the ceremony and asks Neal to come with him to the beach so he can "settle his head." Neal brings his guitar, which he's planning to use at the ceremony (unbeknownst to Sandy). He's just started guitar lessons so he's not very good yet.
At this point, the two guys have been friends for 10 or 11 years. They're in a rock band together, with Sandy as the primary drummer/ percussionist and Neal serving as secondary drummer, which is the "day job" for both of them--hence Neal's response to Sandy's comment.
They spend a short while at the beach then go to Frank's Diner, the local gathering spot. Frank's known Sandy forever. Incidentally, the diner is where Neal met April. Frank directs the guys to a booth and says he'll have Donna bring some coffee.
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The town was so ’50s, even the waitresses had throwback names. Something clicked in Neal’s head. He shifted his guitar into a comfortable position and tried to find a tune for the half-formed lyrics. “Donna, she works in the diner . . . Tell you ain’t nobody finer . . .”
Sandy snatched a menu from the table and said, “Don’t quit your day job.”
Neal laughed then said, “Ah, but that would keep me breathing down your neck to be the band’s main drummer, and I know you can’t handle that much longer.”
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The scene is really just to help me with characterization so there's not much actual plot. Exploring what makes characters tick is my favorite thing about writing. I hope you enjoy the interactions.
For excerpts from works in progress by other writers, visit Six Sentence Sunday. It's a simple concept but it's tons of fun to see what other people are working on and the wide variety of styles.
Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you next week!
Great six! Love it!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many layers to these guys. Can't believe Neal is the same guy, Wow. I had no idea how long he time-span was for the story. Makes me look forward to it even more! :-) Oh, and I loved Neal's cheesy lyrics ;-) Great six!
ReplyDeleteMusicians, like writers, are never really off duty. Good characterisation here.
ReplyDelete*laff* Thanks so much, ladies. Yeah, I think that's one of the reasons I can relate to these characters: life is always seen through the filter of the thing we love to do.
ReplyDeleteDitto what Teresa said. I look forward to continuing the journey with these two, just to see how they end up here.
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