Had a solid writing day. Just read a bit of a pivotal scene and didn’t love what was there. Sigh. It’s okay. Scene is fine. Just not quite hitting as hard as I wanted it to.
I still struggle with that – I think I do fine on the larger plot points, and whenever I find something by accident, that feels like it works well…but much of the character stuff, the smaller more emotional arcs — that’s still area for improvement. I think I need to spend more time crafting those moments, actually. It’s what I do for the bigger action stuff.
I do have an escape hatch, however, for whenever one of those moments isn’t landing the way I want it to: I just ease off the gas on it. Make it not so big. Not so intense or emotional. That way, I’m not swinging for something and missing, you know. It’s just not such a big swing, so I’m not missing it. Little writers’ tip right there. If it’s not feeling turned up to 11, don’t turn it up to 11. Still disappointing when that happens, though. I wanted it to be 11, planned for it to be that intense…so backing off from that is always a little bit of a letdown. But here’s another thing I’m beginning to learn: that happens. You accept it and move on. If it doesn’t break the book, it’s fine as-is.
I know the final moment for these characters will land. I can feel that already in my bones. This moment…might take some more digging, and it might just not be there the way I want it to. We’ll see.
Night night.