28 May, 2013

"That" scene

I'm knee deep into my second draft when I decide to rewrite a scene from scratch. Okay, that's cool. I can handle that considering most of my novel is where I want it to be. A simple rewrite. That's all. Right.

Right?

. . . right?

Turns out that little scene turned into a mega scene. To put it into perspective, the word count on chapter four was at 7.4K when I started. Now it's at 12.3K. I wrote a 4,887 word scene, and all I can do is scratch my head at the result.

What do I do? Where do I go with it? How can I scissor that scene so the chapter becomes manageable again? I'm gonna leave it for now, otherwise I'd be beating my head against a brick wall, but I'm wondering how others deal with this type of situation when it arises. Do you plan to cut words during the third draft, change your mind and scrap it, figure out a way to break it up? Some direction/suggestions would be helpful.
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Ash Litton

Ash Litton is a writer and lover of sci-fi, fantasy, and all things fictional. She is the author of Thoroughbred, Evening Hallow, Comeuppance, and Cabover Cabaret, and works on other Appalachian Dream Tales between her ongoing novel projects. She's also written No Diet, No Surgery, No Sweat, an ebook chronicling her weight-loss journey.

When she's not writing, she's drawing, and when she's not doing either of those, she's dreaming up new projects to work on. Born and raised in rural West Virginia, Ash has always wondered what things lay hidden in the hills around her. She attended West Virginia University, where she studied the English language before returning home to her family in rural West Virginia.