How One Tiny Little Section Changes Everything

How does that happen, you ask? How can adding just one little scene, one TINY little section, change an ENTIRE STORY? Well, I'll tell you how.

First, you write a story. You leave a blank spot called [football scene] because you don't watch football and you don't know anything about it, but you don't want to disrupt the writing flow by looking it up. You just know what's going to happen. So you skip it.

Then as you're editing, you go back to add in [football scene] and end up writing something very cool, something you love, something that just WORKS for the rest of the book... But you'll need to reference it in a later chapter.

So you go to said later chapter, add in that paragraph referring to [football scene] and, of course, have to add in the reactions to this new paragraph. Sadly, this is where it gets messy.

Because suddenly the next set of paragraphs doesn't make sense. But that's okay! Because you can just rework the scene--and besides, it's better this way!

Oh, but, you'll need to reference something said in post-football scene in another chapter.

And the cycle continues...

Pretty soon, you've rewritten the entire novel.

Now, this is just my most recent happenstance of this "rewrite nonsense," but let me tell you... It has happened on MULTIPLE OCCASIONS with this book. (It happened even more with The Quest of Dai: The Malo... I don't want to talk about it.)

And, I ask you... Why can't we just write in order? Why can't these "brilliant ideas" come to us while we're writing? Why do they have to come POST-finishing, which in turn means that we have to rewrite the whole damn thing? Does that frustrate anyone else? Does anyone else do that? Or do you just add in a couple of paragraphs and let it go at that?

On the plus side, and there IS a plus side, The Waif and the Bad Boy (one last time for old times sake!) is... wait for it...

COMPLETE!

That's right, folks. Totally complete. Chapters all put together properly (I told you, adding scenes really messes with a manuscript...), missing scenes filled in, final read-through done except for the newest scenes I added today (which will only get another read-through)... We're GOLDEN. Ready to rock and roll! Just got to add in that Table of Contents, the disclaimer, and title page... And I think we're ready to send this baby off!

C'mon... Who's proud? ;)

I'm thinking of publishing on the 24th. I don't know why. I just like the number 24. It would probably be smarter to do it on a Friday so it's ready for a Saturday/Sunday release, though. Like the movies! If you have any good advice (or any advice, really... suggestion?), I'm willing to listen!