~~There come a time when you have to admit defeat; when scene you've slaved over and cried about, refuses to get in line and march properly into its place in your plot. It's always a scene that you think is an absolute necessity to bolster your theme, define your character, or reveal some deep, dark secret. And yet, it refuses to open its heart and sing. I've been working on two such scenes since February. If I'm honest, I'll admit that these two scenes have tortured me for over two years.
~~It took a great post on Letting Go by Jen at All the World's Our Page to to make me wake up the the truth. So join with me in saying a fond farewell to "South Pacific" and "Samantha's Essay." I've mined the key discoveries and found more natural places for them. In fact, on my reread this morning of the newly reconstituted "Cherry Beach" scene, I was amazed that I'd not seen this before now. I've learned my lesson. When the next thorny scene refuses to be beaten into submission, I won't be as slow to cut the little darling and re-imagine the whole thing. I know my WIP will be better for the lesson.
~~What about you? Do you have some scenes that won't behave? What do you do with them--cut or keep plugging along until they submit?
~~Happy writing! ; )
I hate tricksy scenes. I've got one novel filled with them, and after trimming at the ends for 5 years I still can't bear to cut them. Any other project yes, I snip and replace. There really is no other option some times. Guess this is part of "growing up" eh?
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. I've had some scenes like that which I finally cut and it was better. I'm sure I'll find more as I go deeper and deeper into rewrites.
ReplyDeleteCrystal,
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfect title for them--tricksy scenes! You're so right. No matter what we do, they are just not right sometimes. I feel as if a burden has lifted off my shoulders since I cut my two.
Sara,
Thanks. Once we do cut them, it's so much better, isn't it?
I usually will cut! Or possibly cut and paste, putting them somewhere else where they fit better. I can still think of some scenes that it hurt to take out. Oh well. There's more where that came from!
ReplyDeleteFunny you chose today to post this; I just had to delete a scene from my MS. It was only three pages long, but still, I was a little attached to it. In the end the story is better without it.
ReplyDeleteKaren and Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteI know the hurt so well. I'm laughing now at all the hours I've spent with "South Pacific" to begin with. It's so much better now and all the important info just cut and pasted into the other scene seamlessly. Here's to all of us getting "writer's knife sets" so we can cut more effectively. ; )
I usually copy and paste the tricksy scene into another document, and rewrite another scene in its place. I sometimes find they can stimulate other ideas later on.
ReplyDeleteWow - those must have been some serious scenes! Two years? Amazing! I'm glad you got the best parts out of them, though; that's important.
ReplyDeleteI'm still in the early stages of writing out the WIP, so I can't say my method is written in stone...but I cut and then rewrite or reapproach the scene from a different angle. Or just cut it altogether.
Sometimes I will throw a hissy fit about cutting a scene and then I realize I'm just not ready to cut it, so I move on (I'm a chunk writer, so no difficulty there), and then look at the scene again later. Sometimes it will be just one or two nuggets that I want to keep - I can extract those and then feel better about cutting the rest.
I had a cryptic note to myself near the end of the MS: "insert Baha change after Capri from draft". I never did figure out what it meant, but as I trolled through some of the drafts of the story from February and even earlier, I was excited to see how much dreck I'd cut and how many scenes I'd moved around and replaced, hopefully for the better.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you describe it - mine the key discoveries and find more natural places for them. Exactly!
Ya gotta hate when that happens, but I know you'll write a much better scene without all the thorns on the rose or pits in the cherries. :)
ReplyDeleteGolden Eagle--That's close to what I've done with these two. I'm very pleased with the results.
ReplyDeleteJill--Believe me, I've worked on other things at the same time. But they have haunted me all this while.
Deniz--Cryptic notes! That's me. ; ) I'm worried about some of the things I'll find in the rest of the original long-hand scenes.
Jo--Actually, I'm thrilled to find this worked. I think I'm ready to really rock and roll with this draft. But I warn the other tricksy scenes-my knives are sharp now. ; )
I have had scenes that don't cooperate very well with my plot and I just loved them so much that it was hard to part with them. Eventually it happened.
ReplyDeleteRegina,
ReplyDeleteIt does hurt, doesn't it? Though I've found a renewed sense of rightness in my WIP by doing it.
I don't give up easily, but when I have to admit defeat, I console myself with the thought that I can use the scene in question in another book.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, J.L.! I just mined about 6 pages from the two cut scenes and the scene I put then into is much stronger now.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to let go. Like kicking your chicks out of the nest. Heart-breaking but necessary. Glad you found a solution though.
ReplyDeleteAnn,
ReplyDeleteI'm working on anothre scene now that just might have the same cutting room floor fate.
Stopping by from the PB Campaign! I know how hard it is just to cut a favorite phrase or paragraph. I can't imagine cutting an entire scene. Hopefully you will get to use these two someday in other pieces.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Pam at www.2encourage.blogspot.com
Liked this post so much that I chose it for my favorite blog post of the week over at www.1st Writes.blogspot.com. Each week each person in our 1st Writes Bloggers group recommends a favorite post and I really felt a lot of us could be encouraged by reading this one. Thanks for posting it!
ReplyDeletePam at www.2encourage.blogspot.com