Two steps forward, one step back

After my great "zone" session last week, I suffered a step back. Wouldn't you know the stuff I wrote in the zone ended up in the outtake file. I may or may not end up using some of it down the line but for now, its gone.

A step back.

I rewound to where my story veered off course---Bix was considering dating the wrong girl---it's not even a romance and suddenly the romantic dilemma was hijacking my story. It'd be one thing if the romance was improving the story (it wasn't) or if it was guiding us to the end (not even close) or was a crucial plot key (nope) but no, it was distracting and it changed the core of Bix's character.

It's funny how one scene can change the course of your story. This one scene in which my hero, Bix, goes on the tunnel of love ride with not-the-heroine, Shrill Gull, and she almost makes a man of him--was leading me toward the Harvest Dance with them--and pushing me away from the witness protection intrigue. It almost turned into the Sixteen Candles dance scene, not that there's anything wrong with that, just wrong for this particular story.

So, snip, snip, and away. Bix ain't getting "almost lucky" in this book.

Funny thing is that once I cut that scene, all the scenes that were associated with it, began to dissolve as well. Maybe that's a hint that it was going in the wrong direction. Seeing as once I cut it, the rest of it collapsed like a house of cards. If it's that easy to let go of, I was never fully committed to the idea in the first place. And Bix certainly wasn't.

Once I got rid of the romantic distraction, I found the way to the end. A good two steps forward. Now, to go close down the carnival, spot the g-men, and well, you'll have to wait for the rest. But trust me, it's going to be way more fun than macking it up on the Tunnel of Love with the wrong girl.

Bix count: 46,500.

Comments

  1. Very smart of you to catch the wrong direction early, befor you had written too much to let go of.

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  2. Glad you worked it out. Don't you just love
    it when a plan comes together?

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  3. Especially since we all believe you can turn this into a series, it is ok to make Bix wait for love!

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  4. Yay, Margie! progress is progress, even when the progress means cutting out a few words...

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  5. ohhh...poor Bix....to get sooo close! =) well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him right? keep up the great work!

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