I did something wrong. I should have followed the rules but I was in a grove and just went with it. By the time I stopped I had a mess on my hands that took longer to fix than to create the mess in the first place. Yes, I am talking about writing. I was working on my 5th book yesterday and I had the creative juices flowing. Everything was written as fast as I could type. I felt glorious like I was writing my first story. Then I had to refer to a character and I couldn’t remember his name. So I went back through the manuscript, not seeing the scene with character in it. “I know I wrote it,” I said. “I’m sure I wrote it. Did I write it? Oh no, it’s not here. I didn’t write it!” Then I looked at my outline and there it was. The problem was I was so far off the story line I could not just add it as I had planned. I thought of all the times I had told writers to stick to their outline. It has served me well in the past. Then I go and totally ignore it for a section. I was left with two choices. Either I could erase what I had written since the point where I went off script and rewrite it with the proper section. (For the record, no author likes to delete their work. It’s like giving away your baby.) Or I could try to find a point to try to fit in the new section into the story. I chose the second option. Then I searched and searched line by line to find a place to enter my scene. After a little adjusting before and after the opening it was time for the scene to be written. It took me 3 hour to add the section but it taught me a lesson. I wrote a detailed outline for a reason. If I stick to it the story will come along fine. To my fans remember, always follow your outline.
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