Meredith Mansfield, Author

I am an unrepentant, but slightly modified discovery writer. I know I’ve said that before. I am not about to start outlining–I’ve tried that and it doesn’t work for me. Either, after about Chapter 3, I spend way too much time updating the outline to what I’m actually writing or I just ignore the outline. Either way, it doesn’t help to get the story onto the page. I do, occasionally outline, in a way, about three to five chapters ahead. That works fine for me, mostly.

So, as I launched into the current chapter of BECOME: TO RIDE THE STORM,

I decided that the best way to catalyze a needed discussion was to bring another character, who has been in a nearby location, in. Fine. But, then, if she’s coming, maybe this other character would come with her. That worked fine for the first scene.

Then I move on to the next scene. If that second character is present, she is definitely going to come along when my least patient POV character goes over to ask a neighbor some questions. And then she’s going to want to go along when that neighbor offers to help. And . . . that ruins everything.

So, surgery on that first scene to remove the extra character and assign her lines to someone else.

Forward to the next problem, which will be to give Impatient and the neighbor a good reason not to come back–without creating a plot hole.