It’s official.
I simply loathe adding scenes during revision.
That’s what I’m working on now, and yesterday
it took The Grackle’s penetrating gaze to keep me on task.
I’ve been thinking about why writing new scenes is so hard for me,
and the best I can come up with is that this manuscript has already been worked so much,
the storyline and characterization feel set in stone. Solid.
(Note: solid does not preclude shitty-in-places).
So even though I know the story will be stronger with the additional scenes,
it still requires a huge shift in my writing brain to insert new stuff into my characters’ lives.
My friend, Pam Mingle, recently told me
she loves writing new scenes during revision.
And that she prefers new scenes to tinkering with what’s already there.
Clearly, opinions run the gamut from Loathe to Love.
Where do you fall on the spectrum?
Tracy Abell 
Well, I love to revise. And I write very spare first drafts. So I have to add in scenes. That said however, I know what you mean about it being hard to add once you feel the story is pretty well set.
Put me in the sometimes I like it, sometimes not so much category.
Good luck with the additions. Is that Grackle still keeping you on track with his beady eyes?
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Okay, add one vote to the Sometimes Yes, Sometimes No category.
It’s a tough question, I know, because every project is different. I don’t think adding new scenes are so hard for me when a project is in an earlier version. Right now, though, yuck.
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I definitely suffer from the “set-in-stone” thing. But on the other hand, I can get very carried away by adding scenes…which makes me worry that I’m going to get carried off in the wrong direction. Basically, if you can worry about it, I will.
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That’s interesting. It’s so hard for me right now that I cannot imagine getting carried away and writing other scenes. But you can resist new scenes AND write a whole bunch? Wow, you really are a complicated writer-person, aren’t you?
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I’m complicated…if complicated is a euphemism for insecure and indecisive.
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Complicated is a euphemism for a whole lot of other stuff, too. Funny, insightful, tough, vulnerable, smart, goofy,… you get the picture.
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I heart goofy. (You go on your new scene/s!)
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Ugh. Creeping along at a snail’s pace.
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If a new scene comes to me, I enjoy adding it. It is tough to come up with a new scene, at times.
I also love revising.
I guess I fall in the middle of the spectrum.
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Yes, I totally understand the “if a new scene comes to me” situation. But this “adding a new scene so the reader can see XYZ” business is much tougher for me. I’m liking what I have so far but still haven’t finished.
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It’s not so much that I dislike writing new scenes, it’s more about finding the right places for them and destroying (in my own mind) brilliant segues to fit them in. And realizing that the words I already have down aren’t the absolute, how-it-happened truth … breaking illusions. Then realizing I can make up anything, but being scared that with all this choice comes the responsibility of picking just the right scene. Writing’s hard. Y’know?
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That’s true about finding right places for new scenes; it makes the task that much more difficult. I have a good place to add these scenes but I’m still resisting.
And don’t get me going on the “power” of being able to make up anything I want…. 🙂
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