Justify Those Scenes
What I'm reading (bike) Up Close and Personal, by Carla Cassidy.
First -- Happy New Year to those who are celebrating the arrival of the year 5772 in the Jewish calendar.
Next, Thanks to Karen Cote and Avery Aames for being my guests. There's still time to join the Thanksgiving Project and to win Avery's book, so scroll down if you haven't read their posts.
Please keep an eye on my sidebar. That's where you'll find updates, including savings on books and more.
And I've been negligent in mentioning that Sept. 24 - Oct. 1st is Banned Book Week. Don't take for granted our freedom to read. Check out these frequently challenged classics .
When I was re-editing FINDING SARAH for its re-release, I thought I'd check to see if there were any scenes I'd cut that might be worth slipping back into the book, now that length was not the issue it was for the print version. I did expand one scene showing Randy at work as a detective, in what I'd called his "kitchen caper" scene, but when I looked at another scene I'd enjoyed writing, I decided it still didn't belong in the book.
Why? Because the scene didn't do anything other than keep Randy from getting back to Sarah. Now, pulling the hero and heroine apart can create conflict, but a scene needs more than one reason to exist in a book. And this scene just didn't have it.
But, because it was fun, I've added it to my Cutting Room Floor files on my website. Why don't you pop over and read it , and then come back to see the final, very much abridged, version.
Sometimes less is better.
Something about Sarah was making this case personal and he dug for professional detachment. Shit. His mind had wandered again and he slammed on the brakes at the glow of red taillights ahead of him, narrowly avoiding rear-ending a Toyota. Five-thirty already. Had Sarah left? He hadn't confirmed their appointment.
He reached for his cell phone and punched in Sarah's work number. Three rings. Four.
"Pick up, Sarah. You've got to be there," he said, as if speaking the words aloud would make it happen.
And who knows? Maybe some day Jerome Quincy will show up in another book. With chickens.
If I'd wanted to integrate the scene into the book, it would have been necessary to include characters that might reappear, or some other consequence of the traffic accident, or thrown in a clue or red herring for the mystery. Or, it could have resulted in a fight between Randy and Sarah,which would add to the relationship conflict, but none of the above seemed significant enough (or would have meant massive rewrites, which could have resulted in tangled continuity errors). So, it remained on my hard drive.
Come back tomorrow for another field trip.
Like this post? Please share by clicking one of the links below.
First -- Happy New Year to those who are celebrating the arrival of the year 5772 in the Jewish calendar.
Next, Thanks to Karen Cote and Avery Aames for being my guests. There's still time to join the Thanksgiving Project and to win Avery's book, so scroll down if you haven't read their posts.
Please keep an eye on my sidebar. That's where you'll find updates, including savings on books and more.
And I've been negligent in mentioning that Sept. 24 - Oct. 1st is Banned Book Week. Don't take for granted our freedom to read. Check out these frequently challenged classics .
When I was re-editing FINDING SARAH for its re-release, I thought I'd check to see if there were any scenes I'd cut that might be worth slipping back into the book, now that length was not the issue it was for the print version. I did expand one scene showing Randy at work as a detective, in what I'd called his "kitchen caper" scene, but when I looked at another scene I'd enjoyed writing, I decided it still didn't belong in the book.
Why? Because the scene didn't do anything other than keep Randy from getting back to Sarah. Now, pulling the hero and heroine apart can create conflict, but a scene needs more than one reason to exist in a book. And this scene just didn't have it.
But, because it was fun, I've added it to my Cutting Room Floor files on my website. Why don't you pop over and read it , and then come back to see the final, very much abridged, version.
Sometimes less is better.
Something about Sarah was making this case personal and he dug for professional detachment. Shit. His mind had wandered again and he slammed on the brakes at the glow of red taillights ahead of him, narrowly avoiding rear-ending a Toyota. Five-thirty already. Had Sarah left? He hadn't confirmed their appointment.
He reached for his cell phone and punched in Sarah's work number. Three rings. Four.
"Pick up, Sarah. You've got to be there," he said, as if speaking the words aloud would make it happen.
And who knows? Maybe some day Jerome Quincy will show up in another book. With chickens.
If I'd wanted to integrate the scene into the book, it would have been necessary to include characters that might reappear, or some other consequence of the traffic accident, or thrown in a clue or red herring for the mystery. Or, it could have resulted in a fight between Randy and Sarah,which would add to the relationship conflict, but none of the above seemed significant enough (or would have meant massive rewrites, which could have resulted in tangled continuity errors). So, it remained on my hard drive.
Come back tomorrow for another field trip.
Like this post? Please share by clicking one of the links below.
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