On Deathbeds And Wallpaper

Oscar Wilde’s reported last words were, “my wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go.”

Whether that’s myth or not doesn’t matter, all we need to know for sure is the spirit of the statement: every story requires stakes.

Even on his deathbed, Wilde established that the stakes were of life and death between him and the wallpaper. There was a fight, someone (or something) was going to die.

Don’t you want to find out how the story ends?

We don’t need to be overdramatic, but we do need to remember that everything can be interesting.

We want them to want to know how the story ends.

Up the stakes a little, see what happens.