What do you do....

imagoodgurl4 · Dec 19, 2006

What do you do when you get stuck on a particular scene? I'm a perfectionist by nature and cannot just write it and move on. I've rewritten a particular scene in my WIP five times, but it doesn't feel right and I just can't move on until it is (excluding proper editing, the scene just has to work with the story). Any advice or tips would be much appreciated.

johnzakour · Dec 19, 2006

If you can't skip ahead then:

Walk away from it. Watch TV. Read a book. Do something else. Forget about the WIP for a while. Let you mind refresh.

Higgins · Dec 19, 2006

I'm having this exact problem

imagoodgurl4 said:
What do you do when you get stuck on a particular scene? I'm a perfectionist by nature and cannot just write it and move on. I've rewritten a particular scene in my WIP five times, but it doesn't feel right and I just can't move on until it is (excluding proper editing, the scene just has to work with the story). Any advice or tips would be much appreciated.

I've decided to completely change the outcome so as to write a scene that I like. This sort of weakens something I was aiming at later, but I hate it when I leave a scene that I just don't think really works....sooner or later I would do something even more drastic, (like dump the whole digression) so better to fix it now and let the chips fall (later) as they may....

Stacia Kane · Dec 19, 2006

For me, if a scene doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. I scrap it and write a different scene. Maybe the info you're including in that one doesn't need its own scene? Maybe you can change the action or location?

imagoodgurl4 · Dec 19, 2006

Thanks for the replies, guys, they're all excellent.

DecemberQuinn: Perhaps you're right about the scene I'm trying to write being unnecessary. Thanks!

Azure Skye · Dec 19, 2006

Send your inner perfectionist on vacation and write the scene without her. She probably won't find out about it unless you tell her. Hide it somewhere, maybe in the cookie jar. If she reaches for a cookie, beat the crap out of her.

sfecphory · Dec 19, 2006

I agree with Azura. Put away the perfectionist. You're working on a WIP not a final galley. You have time to correct any scene later, and you may even find that moving through the scene and getting to the next may jog your brain in a better direction.

imagoodgurl4 · Dec 19, 2006

Azura Skye said:
Send your inner perfectionist on vacation and write the scene without her. She probably won't find out about it unless you tell her. Hide it somewhere, maybe in the cookie jar. If she reaches for a cookie, beat the crap out of her.

Azura, that cracked me up...I'm at work and trying not to giggle. I'm gonna have to keep a baseball bat next to my computer now...in case Perfectionist tries to sneak up on me, I can hit her over the head. Good advice!

Shadow_Ferret · Dec 19, 2006

I'm kind of with Azure Skye on this one. The perfectionist should be locked in a small room somewhere during all first drafts.

anavicenteferreira · Dec 19, 2006

Honestly? Write BLAHBLAHBLAH (like that in caps, so it's easy to find) and move on. The blahblahblah always keeps me from taking things too seriouly when I'm working on the first draft. Then I go back, at some point, and finish the scene.

You can't be a perfeccionist on the first draft, or you'll never get it done. Trust me, I know. Been there. Just write away, anything you feel like, even if you know it's absolute c**p. No one's going to see it but you, and you can fix it later.

Ken Schneider · Dec 19, 2006

You need to let go of the edit as you go curse.

Just write, editing is for after the work is finished.

You have our permission to write poorly and edit later.

You are stuck because of this editing fetish, don't edit now, and you won't be stuck.

imagoodgurl4 · Dec 19, 2006

anavicenteferreira said:
Honestly? Write BLAHBLAHBLAH (like that in caps, so it's easy to find) and move on. The blahblahblah always keeps me from taking things too seriouly when I'm working on the first draft. Then I go back, at some point, and finish the scene.

You can't be a perfeccionist on the first draft, or you'll never get it done. Trust me, I know. Been there. Just write away, anything you feel like, even if you know it's absolute c**p. No one's going to see it but you, and you can fix it later.

I know what you mean...which is why I've never been able to finish a WIP...because I want it to be perfect on the first draft. Guess I'm gonna have to lock my perfectionism and my OCD in a closet...or maybe the basement...it's farther away from my computer....and darker.

Elektra · Dec 19, 2006

Try rewriting it in a completely different way, without reusing any dialogue or descriptions. That always helps me when I feel locked into getting one idea just right.

badducky · Dec 19, 2006

rewrite it again until it's perfect. no shortcuts.

Simon Woodhouse · Dec 19, 2006

I only tend to have this problem if I can't see where the scene is going. If it's rambling on and on, it normally means I'm missing the point, or I didn't think about it enough before I started. My solution is to stop and go back to the point where it was working.

Jamesaritchie · Dec 19, 2006

Perfection

Perfection is the enemy of Good Enough. No matter how many times you rewrite anything, it's never going to be perfect. Never. Accept the imperfections and move on.

imagoodgurl4 · Dec 19, 2006

Jamesaritchie said:
Perfection is the enemy of Good Enough. No matter how many times you rewrite anything, it's never going to be perfect. Never. Accept the imperfections and move on.

Good advice, Jamesaritchie.

UrsusMinor · Dec 19, 2006

imagoodgurl4 said:
What do you do when you get stuck on a particular scene? I'm a perfectionist by nature and cannot just write it and move on. I've rewritten a particular scene in my WIP five times, but it doesn't feel right and I just can't move on until it is (excluding proper editing, the scene just has to work with the story). Any advice or tips would be much appreciated.

I'm not sure what you mean by stuck. If you mean you think you are writing the correct scene, but not writing it skillfully enough, then moving on may be the thing to do.

On the other hand, if you aren't sure you are writing the correct scene, I'd stop and figure it out before moving on. I know opinions differ on this. But if I write the wrong scene, then it will affect the following pages of the book (and, if it doesn't, is it a worthwhile scene?)

I find that thinking hard and then following it up by doing something that occupies part of the brain usually helps. Sometimes going for a walk is enough, but the best thing is high-speed freeway driving in moderately heavy traffic. (No radio, no music!) Add a rainstorm if particularly stuck.

When I can't note anything down conveniently, my mind becomes especially fertile. That guy weaving all over the freeway at 70 mph? Me. I just figured out the scene.

imagoodgurl4 · Dec 19, 2006

UrsusMinor said:
I'm not sure what you mean by stuck. If you mean you think you are writing the correct scene, but not writing it skillfully enough, then moving on may be the thing to do.

On the other hand, if you aren't sure you are writing the correct scene, I'd stop and figure it out before moving on. I know opinions differ on this. But if I write the wrong scene, then it will affect the following pages of the book (and, if it doesn't, is it a worthwhile scene?)

I find that thinking hard and then following it up by doing something that occupies part of the brain usually helps. Sometimes going for a walk is enough, but the best thing is high-speed freeway driving in moderately heavy traffic. (No radio, no music!) Add a rainstorm if particularly stuck.

When I can't note anything down conveniently, my mind becomes especially fertile. That guy weaving all over the freeway at 70 mph? Me. I just figured out the scene.

Haha, UrsusMinor, that made me smile. I usually do the thinking thing on my drive to work, since it takes me about 40 min (and yes, I drive 70, too).

By stuck, I mean that the ending of the scene is necessary to the story...it's just how to get to that part. I may have figured out a way to incorporate it into an early scene's conversation. I'll have to let you all know how it goes.

UrsusMinor · Dec 19, 2006

imagoodgurl4 said:
I usually do the thinking thing on my drive to work, since it takes me about 40 min (and yes, I drive 70, too).

Oh my god, I just looked at your post and realized that you're talking about driving in Boston!

I take it back. Do not think about your novel. Do not think about anything other than the fact that the other drivers are either blind, incompetent, or simply intent on killing you.

imagoodgurl4 · Dec 19, 2006

UrsusMinor said:
Oh my god, I just looked at your post and realized that you're talking about driving in Boston!

I take it back. Do not think about your novel. Do not think about anything other than the fact that the other drivers are either blind, incompetent, or simply intent on killing you.

Haha, yes, I work in Natick, though, so once I get on the highway (which I live near), it's not as bad....and I always get behing the wheel with "intent to kill" hehehe. J/k.

Maryn · Dec 19, 2006

What I do is use brackets to remind myself what the scene I'm stuck on has to accomplish. [James and Gage argue about money, stop when Natalie cuts herself in the kitchen. Stitches needed? In the ER waiting room, the guys talk quietly. Revealed James' ego tied up with earning. Natalie okay. Reader wonders if she's a cutter.] With that level of detail, I can pick up at the start of the next scene and just fill it in later.

However, there are plenty of good ideas here, so try several that sound promising and use whatever works for you. (Driving time is thinking time for me, too.)

Maryn, who's going on a long trip later this week, oh boy!

Meerkat · Dec 19, 2006

Good idea. Say, before you go on the "long trip later this week," don't forget to turn the lights off, change the disturbing avatar, feed the cats, change avatar, lock the doors, and restore our sense of well being by changing the frightening avatar!

ebrillblaiddes · Dec 19, 2006

Give yourself permission to write crap. I write lots of crap. I think everyone here writes lots of crap. I haven't even seen their writing, but the nature of first drafts dictates that there will be crap, so if they're writing a lot, they're writing a lot of crap.

Writing = writing lots of crap and (hopefully) some good stuff, and editing and deleting until the crap turns into at least mediocrity (or preferably good stuff) and the ratio of good stuff to mediocrity is as high as possible.

And hey, if it's better than crap the first time...freebie!

johnzakour · Dec 19, 2006

Jamesaritchie said:
Perfection is the enemy of Good Enough. No matter how many times you rewrite anything, it's never going to be perfect. Never. Accept the imperfections and move on.

Well put. I'm still editing books that were published in 2001, but I'm trying to get over it.

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