Chronicles of a Procrastinating Novelist Volume 32: Writing Day types - Groundhog Day
It’s day 3, and the scene still isn’t right.
It’s not baaaad, bad. It was bad yesterday. Tuesday it was painful. So not bad is something, but something’s not gonna cut it when you have to move on from here.
Oh you’re overthinking it. This is draft 1. The down and dirty, typo riddled, spelling error webbed, labyrinthine plotted, warts, boils, oozing pustules, ingrown hairs and all first draft. One shitty scene’s not going to stand out among the inevitable 20-80,000 words you’ll cut anyway. Agonize when you revise. Just enjoy the bliss of no pressure creation.
Except it’s not right.
Shut up, Gut Instinct Fairy. Inspiration Fairy just got out of rehab, and we’ve been getting on swimmingly. She suggested this scene. Don’t you go hurting her delicate feelings. It’s a good scene. A great scene in fact. A lynch pin of character development and moving emotion. What do you mean if you could only get it RIGHT?
I know the writing sucks. First – okay fine. First drafts are flawed but you’re not supposed to notice the truly crappy stuff till round 2. Or at least be content enough not to have spent three days rewriting the same crap into slightly nicer crap. Do not make nursing jokes at me! It has not gone from C-diff to bad Taco Bell! You’re a jerk, Gut Instinct Fairy. A real jerk.
So how do I fix it? Change the POV? You tried that yesterday for about a paragraph. No. Start in the middle of the action? I’ve already described Lynette and Grahame's consulting office in 3 other short stories, what’s so special about it on Christmas morning? Oh I don’t know, maybe the Christmas morning part.
You know what you have to do. There’s no trick or gimmick. No short cut to improve your flabby, dull sentence work.
Scrap it.
Write it better.
Commencing rewrite number three in 3, 2, 1.
Thank you for reading,
B
