Disregard previous post

Well, I've rewritten that missing scene, and at the risk of sounding full of myself, I think I did pretty damn well. The characterization's not as strong, but there are parts that are better than before. Setting the scene, and a bit of foreshadowing that didn't exist in the previous version. Better still, I managed to string together five or six strings of a few paragraphs each into one 5-page scene. In all, I wrote around 1500 words today, and though the scene's not quite done (there's an action sequence I'm putting off, as action's not my strong suit), it's a good start. Better, even, than what I originally had for Part Two, where things happen too fast, and I head, in the very first chapter, into a situation that shouldn't come around until well towards the end of this section of the book. It's not bad writing, what I had before, but it throws Scamper (and the reader) into the thick of things before they're ready, and I wasn't quite prepared to that yet.

So, oddly enough, losing that scene ended up working out for the best.

Who'd've thought?

 

Cris.

*tired sigh*

I wrote a scene a few months ago. It was a couple of pages long, and an interesting addition to Scamper, and how he interacts within a group. It characterized someone who, previously, didn't really stand out from the other, minor characters in the group, made him a more rounded person. It wasn't a perfect scene, but it was a good one.

Long story short, I lost the scene.

It's not on my old computer. It's not on my new computer. Not on any of my three flashdrives. It's not on paper (I don't think), and not a part of any of the 30K (or so) word documents where I keep the scenes that don't yet fit in, or that I've cut out.

It's just gone, and this kills me, because I'm convinced that this 5-page scene would be a great way to enter Part Two. There are other ways to do it (I've tried and scrapped at least a half-dozen distinct ways), but I'm convinced this scene would be the best way.

If only I can find it. =/

I can always rewrite the scene, of course, but I'm always dubious of this. Rewriting a scene from memory is a tricky thing. I am, in essence, writing an outline of a scene, going by what I remember. The little flairs of inspiration, the turns of phrase, the characterizations, are gone. They won't, experience has taught me, come around a second time.

So back up your work, kids. Back it up often, and in multiple places. Two places on the same computer doesn't count. Invest in a flashdrive (or three). Use CDs. Or, if you can't afford any of these, just print out your stuff, and store multiple copies in different places.

Now, I'm going to try to recreate inspiration.

Wish me luck.



Cris.