Brainstorm

Last night when I was reading a book my critique partner loaned me titled, “Goal, Motivation, & Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction”, I had an idea pop into my head of how to make my own novel’s plot sizzle just a bit more. Although I have been relatively happy with my new book, I still have felt that compared to other Silhouette Desires, there just isn’t enough conflict between the two main characters.

Changing the plot to this new idea would mean a slight revamp of the synopsis and first four chapters that I have written, so that’s where my question and doubt starts to come in. One of my biggest problems as a writer is getting stuck on a section because I write and rewrite and rewrite again rather than moving forward. I don’t want to get stuck in that cycle again.

On the other hand, I would really like to put my best foot forward on Sunday when I meet with the other Desire author. I was planning to bring a fresh copy of my work thus far just in case she offers to read it and give comments. I don’t want to hand over four chapters and a synopsis and then say, “Well, I’m completely changing the plot here, I just didn’t want to rewrite it until the whole thing was finished.”

My plan, then, is going to be to spend a couple of hours this morning revising what I wrote in the past to match this new sizzling plot idea. But, I am only going to give myself today to do it. Tomorrow, I have to keep writing and moving forward in the story. Maybe if I stick to that rule, I won’t get stuck in the cycle of rewrite after rewrite. For me, this will be a valuable exercise on the road to learning when enough is enough as far as rewrites are concerned.