One of the pieces of writing advice I've heard bandied about is that you really shouldn't try to edit while you write. Write first; edit later. Save the edits for your second draft.
I, um, yeah. That doesn't work for me. I tend to write stories consecutively, from the beginning to the end. So if I go significantly astray during some point in the process, I basically can't keep writing until I find the problem and fix it. I'm not talking little things, like grammar or spelling or missing words, or even things like getting the wording just right for a particular line of dialogue; I'm talking about things like setting up a character dynamic that's going to trip me up later, or that I'm not entirely sure I find believable.
I'm talking, specifically, about section nine of Atop The Ramparts. I'm talking about Miledha managing to completely alienate Roberr by saying just exactly the wrong thing.
It's not that I don't think it could happen; I wouldn't have written it in the first place if I couldn't see that line sort of popping out of Miledha's mouth. Still, it seems kind of contrived -- inserting drama into a situation that really doesn't need any more of it. And it's so completely the wrong thing to say, that I'm having trouble seeing how Roberr would be able to move past it and be able to work with her at all, ever. At the very least, it will force me to spend a fair amount of time resolving a side-conflict, and in terms of pacing and flow I'm not at all sure I want to do that.
So... I'm going to go back and re-read the entire story up to that point, and then I'm going to look at that scene again.
And then I'm probably going to rewrite it.
If those of you who've been reading along have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.
I didn't think it to be completely out of place. It seemed to me that Miledha was just frustrated and felt that what she needed to show Roberr was more important than staying there.
ReplyDeleteNot that I've ever said anything without thinking.