Clearing the roadblock

[pbray]

Yesterday I finished the chapter I've been working on for a while. I'd been stuck for over a week at the same spot, making one false start after another as I tried to finish one scene and then begin the next.

I finally realized that the problem was two particular paragraphs. I'd worked hard on them. They were well-written, and had information that is critical for understanding one of the central character arcs.

And this was absolutely the wrong place for them. They functioned like speedbumps, slowing the pace down to a crawl. I hated cutting them, but once I did, the scene flowed the way I needed it to, and I was able to write the next scene and finish off the chapter.

The chapter isn't perfect, but it's solid, so I can keep moving forward. I've saved those paragraphs in my story notes file, pretending that I'm going to use them, but in reality we all know that I'll just visit them from time to time, pet the perfect prose, and somewhere in the new chapter or the next, I'll figure out a different way to get this information across.

Comments

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's so hard, when you really need to stick something in there, and it's just awkward any way you try to shove it.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

They were such cleverly written paragraphs! But it's like having a gorgeous shirt that doesn't match anything else you own... eventually you realize you're never going to wear it.

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

Sigh... or a gorgeous shirt that's worn through at the elbows...

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

It's especially hard when the stuff actually did serve a purpose, but not then and there.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Right stuff, wrong time. But at least I figured that out.

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness for the Cuts File! It makes the wordectomies hurt a little less.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I wonder what folks did in the days of typewriters... did they actually save these gems in file folders? The copy&paste then cut is so much cleaner and more civilized.

[vespican.livejournal.com]

There is a similar problem in which one reaches a point in the story and has multiple paths to take in order to move the story forward. Deciding which path, which scene should come next can also delay overall progress.
Dave

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Usually that's not a problem for me, but when it is, the solution is always to get together with one or two fellow writers and apply alcohol (or chocolate) as we brainstorm a solution.

Although there was that time when I had a Eureka moment and announced "Ritual scarification, of course! He'll just go off and cut himself, it makes so much sense." Which was exactly what the plot needed, but not something the non-writer types surrounding us were prepared to hear.

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

Oog.

Like the scene I read with the woman dying in childbirth. The doctor decided to mix up a 10% lye wash. This was actually in my writer's group, and I still got a big "ooog..." and "wouldn't that kill her?" Had to explain that yes, it might, but it was, in fact, what people at my character's level of medical development would use. Cring-worthy? Oh, yes. Accurate? Oh, yes.

Speaking of the above, it may end up on the cutting-room floor anyway. The WIP looks to be heading for 150,000, so some scenes may have to get cut. The whole thing is done to move a character, but it might have to be shortened to, "She moved to _____ after _________ died."

growl.

[vespican.livejournal.com]

It's usually not a problem for me either. My one notable encounter came as I am well into my third book. The situation may have been magnified by the fact that I seemed to have a lot of extras on my plate at the time, and time for working on the story or even to contemplate it were at minimum.

Usually I'll have a path I want the story to follow, and will be proceeding merrily along that plot route. Then a thought will strike me, and I'll say, "let's turn of here and take the story on a bit of a detour?" I do, and everything is fine. In the one instance where I had trouble and delays, I had three or four different routes that I could take to get to a specific point in the story. Finally chose one and went with it.
Dave