Bottleneck

Remember all the great progress I made last week?

This week, I started a new scene and ran into difficulties almost instantly. Not only did I fall short of my word count goal for the week; I never even managed to finish this one scene! I kept having to stop and restart, change and delete.

Obviously, this was frustrating. I was irritated with myself, at my loss of momentum and my lack of progress.

Then I took a step back and asked myself why this scene was so difficult to write. I reviewed the last few scenes for each of my main characters, and suddenly it all made sense: This isn’t just a move-the-plot-forward kind of scene. This needs to be a pivotal moment in both characters’ stories.

This particular scene represents a crossroads for my characters, both individually and for their friendship. Not only does this scene represent the culmination of one part of the narrative, it sets up major crises and plot points for the next part. In order to write this section, I need to keep a ton of information in mind for both characters, then tell the story from only one character’s point of view.

No wonder this has been difficult!

Once I realized what was happening, I stopped beating myself up. I made some notes, collected my thoughts and let myself slow down. I’m going to take my time to get this scene right.