Earlier this week, I spent a whole day working on little over a page in my manuscript. I had finished a brief scene and was transitioning into a complimentary scene that was supposed to close out the chapter and lead to the next. On paper, it looked good. Should've flowed seamlessly. But when I put it into action, everything came to a grinding halt.
As I was writing, I kept struggling with the idea that the characters wouldn't be saying these things after what had just happened. They wouldn't be talking about this stuff, no mater how badly I wanted them to.
When I sat down to work yesterday, I approached the manuscript with a new attitude. I wasn't going to force this transition. I took the scene I'd struggled on and moved it down several pages and out of the way so I could get to work on what really happens next. I'm happy to say, it didn't take long for the characters to find the right scene. Sometimes the author just needs to step out of the way.
I'm just amazed at this concept. I can't even conceive how to write a story and think ahead and ... this worries me. If I can't write stories how in the hell am I going to teach my firsties to write??
ReplyDeleteConnie
I'm sure you do fine :) And I don't presume to know what the hell I'm doing, I kind of make it up as I go along.
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