Friday, June 13, 2008

One Paragraph

My manuscript edits have slowed to a crawl. Less than a crawl, even, whatever that would be. An inch?

This place I'm at, it could be equated to one paragraph or so, is really dragging me down. Time and time again I pull it up, hopeful. And then I just stare. My brain shuts off and my characters suspend in limbo, waiting for me to make their next move. And it's because I don't know how to transition the scene. Any possibility I come up with seems forced and dry. I can't make the first snippet flow into the second snippet, where something meaningful happens.

I try to retrace my steps, get into the groove of the goings on prior to this segment, so I can ease into it. But I end up rehashing what I've already edited, still coming up short at this cursed place. I can't jump ahead, because I want to leave nothing unrevised. I refuse to say, "I'll come back to it later."

What do I do? Any advice?

ETA: I did it! This post served as a springboard, and I successfully tackled the transition scene. But your thoughts are still welcome...

3 comments:

Janet said...

Sometimes you have to write a little crap before the good stuff comes.

Janna Leadbetter said...

Crap in abundance, even!

:)

Melanie Hooyenga said...

I was going to offer to read the section in question and give you my input, but your brain beat me to it.

Nice work!