Writing Craft
Revision gets awkward when a scene is doing real emotional work but not much else.
That can be the hardest cut. Not because it’s vital to the plot, but because it’s good. It earns its place on a sentence level. It might even be the nicest chapter in the book. Still, if it’s sitting in the wrong part of the story, all that care can become a problem.
I keep coming back to the same unhelpful truth: a well-written scene can still be the wrong scene.
That can be the hardest cut. Not because it’s vital to the plot, but because it’s good. It earns its place on a sentence level. It might even be the nicest chapter in the book. Still, if it’s sitting in the wrong part of the story, all that care can become a problem.
I keep coming back to the same unhelpful truth: a well-written scene can still be the wrong scene.
Sometimes the problem is that the scene is doing emotional work the book hasn’t actually earned yet. Then it reads like a plea for sympathy rather than part of the machinery.
I’m more suspicious of scenes that are lovely in isolation. If they can be lifted out without the story wobbling, they’re probably decorative, which is a very expensive habit for a draft to have.
I’m more suspicious of scenes that are lovely in isolation. If they can be lifted out without the story wobbling, they’re probably decorative, which is a very expensive habit for a draft to have.