Perspective

This weekend, having finished the edits on my spychick novel, I pulled out my paranormal WIP, brushed off the month’s worth of dust that had accumulated and chucked most of the climactic scene I’d written at the end of chapter ten. Yeah, it had to be done. I knew before I took my editing hiatus that the scene wasn’t working, but going back to it after a month made it all the more clear.

Going back to a manuscript after some time away usually changes my perspective on the writing. When I’m not working on a particular project—that is, when I’m not actually sitting down at a computer and adding to it—I generally spend time thinking about the story in larger terms. Arc terms, character terms, theme terms. . .sometimes it’s as simple as tagline terms. That often changes my thinking about the way I write the story when I go back to, and it is usually a much more directed, tighter story because of it.

I’m on a deadline for the day job today, so I’m going to keep this short and sweet. An occasional hiatus from the WIP—good, bad, nonexistent? Discuss.