I haven’t talked about the WIP for a while. That’s because I’ve struggled and struggled with it for what seems an eternity. Running behind but not moving forward. Fighting to get words on the page. Deadline barreling toward me at a hundred miles per hour. (That horrifying sound you heard was me screaming!!!)
While in Atlanta at ICRS, I had one of those great moments happen to me. After I’d delivered my devotional to the sales reps on Tuesday morning, I had too little time to return to the hotel and too much time before my next appointment (signing books in the Zondervan booth with Lori Copeland, see photo at left, click for larger view).
So I found a comfortable chair in the sparsely populated (due to the early hour) convention center and sat down, pulled out my red leather Levenger Circa Jr. notebook from my rolling briefcase, and guess what. The ideas began to flow. I couldn’t write fast enough.
I discovered why I’ve been blocked for so long, struggling so hard to move forward. I needed to change how and when a key event happened. I also discovered some things that need to happen later in the story (a couple which came to me thanks to sitting next to Lisa Samson at dinner on Sunday night), but this key scene was what mattered most to me.
The bad news? That new key scene had to happen in chapter two and altered portions of every single chapter that followed it. So I have spent the past week cutting, cutting, cutting, revising, revising, revising, writing, writing, writing. In the end, I’m down two pages and 782 words from what I originally had. But (and that is a big BUT) everything works better now. As soon as I post this entry, I’ll start writing brand new pages and, God willing, those words will flow just a bit easier now.
-rlh-
Yay, Robin! Yay, God! This is an answer to prayer. As hard as going backwards in pages is–I know the future pages can now flow.
Continuing to pray for your deadline.
~ Brandilyn
I just LOVE to hear about writerly things, i.e., how writers tool out plots and scenes and stories. It’s fascinating to me how they work out due to our various life situations, such as your sitting by Lisa Samson and then having the extra time on your hands. I can hear a song at church or something someone says, and presto, it’s just the thing I need for my story. Thanks for sharing.
Kristy Dykes