Writing Wrongs

May 31, 2005

I�ve said this before, but this time, I mean it. Really. I think I�ve figured out The Boys� Club. Okay, let�s all pause for the collective groan. There. Anyway, after writing what had to be 2,000 of the dullest words known to mankind, it hit me.

I have two segments I really like: Kit�s promotion and then later, a confrontation with her company commander (who insists on driving after having what she suspects is too much to drink). The stuff in between is beyond dull. The confrontation is really the inciting incident for the novel, and it was stuck somewhere beyond page 50. Not good.

So I�m pretty much cutting ~10,000 words, moving the juicy, gossipy stuff to scenes that already exist in some form, and then moving on with the narrative. Normally, I avoid going back and doing constant revisions. It�s a path fraught with danger and I�ve seen more than one writer endlessly loop through the first three chapters. It�s the quickest way to not finishing a book.

However, I�m excited about revamping the front end of the story. It gets me to the good stuff right away. Now, why didn�t I think of getting to the good stuff right away? I. Don�t. Know. Actually, I do. It�s an aftereffect of one of the worst writing courses/critique experiences I�ve had the misfortune of participating in. The less said about that, the better.

So. Although I didn�t know what I wanted when I took the time to think about writing on Friday, I ended up where I needed to be.

Charity Tahmaseb wrote at 11:39 a.m.

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