Writing is like everything else, part #2390-234(b)

[leahbobet]

Tonight, I am attempting to rewrite a very difficult scene. I am rewriting it because I realized it was structurally/narratively a duplication of something that came before, and didn't serve enough purpose, and made a particular character feel like she doesn't grow or change because of that duplication, which is one of the things that my-agent-I-show-you-her has mentioned in her notes. And then I had to turn around and check what that character's motives were, and then scale back up the whole thing from there.

I think I have the underpinnings now. Sort of. And so now I've disassembled the scene itself and I'm moving words around.

Tonight rewriting feels sort of like having a car engine in pieces. I'm sitting on the floor with my gloves on, with paragraphs and spare parts spread out all around me, and I have to stick them back together, or replace, or rewire just so; so it'll make heat and light again. And it has to weigh the right amount and be the right shape, or it won't fit into the rest of the car.

I have the distinct feeling I'd be having an easier time of this if I knew how to field-strip and reassemble some machinery...

(Back to work.)