Doing editorial surgery today. Maybe that sounds melodramatic, but it's exactly how I feel: excited and afraid. What I mean by 'editorial 'surgery' is the removal of a scene, the application of small connective-rewrites, then a 'scene graft' somewhere else. I've come to realize that in many ways, I prefer a full rewrite. With a full rewrite, the scene is guaranteed to mesh with the surrounding material. With editorial surgery, you have a quandary: it needs to mesh but the whole point of surgery is to preserve the scene the way it is. This creates a number of problems with continuity and flow--two of my guiding principles. The motive in this case is interesting. I teased a Big Reveal then followed it up with a really emotional scene--a sort of Big Reveal in terms of pathos if not plot. The two are mostly unrelated subplots, but when I looked back on them, it really feels like too much when taken in together. The new way will--I hope--keep the suspense up, the tedium down, and the story flowing.
Off to find out now...
