Something I hate...

by Timer

I was reading something I wrote.  A story I hadn't been able to work on for a while.  There's a part that I read that evoked a rather profound emotional response from me.  Not that it was really all that well written, just something there that hits me in the feels.

And I realize... I completely lost the scene.  I have completely lost the ability to rationally and objectively consider whether this is good.  I'm only responding to my emotions and the scene will suffer because of that.  Even worse, the entire story will suffer.  Probably to a catastrophic level.

It's gangrenous, and I have to burn it to save everything else.

But I don't have the heart to.

Viewed:	44 times
Added:	1 month, 2 weeks ago 01 May 2025 17:42 CEST

4 Comments on this Journal

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KevinSnowpaw

1 month, 2 weeks ago

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If it feels so pure then you may needs to rewrite the scene or perhaps even the story, to fit it. Beats tossing the entire thing doesn't it?

Gendasi

1 month, 2 weeks ago

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Edited 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Owner

When I used to write a lot, I found that those moments of raw emotion often carried a deeper impact because everything else was so reasoned and solid. The contrast just took the moment to a new level. I once killed off a character in a beautiful, fitting, and deeply emotional moment of self-sacrifice but thought it felt too disjointed from the rest of a the narrative, so I changed the entire scene and it never felt right after.

That moment of emotional turmoil and chaos drove home the power of that sacrifice and everything that was taking place, making my test readers feel uncertain and afraid like the rest of the protagonists, but I was never able to recapture that visceral "lightning in a bottle" emotional hook with anything that came after.

Sometimes, the shift of tone enhances a story, rather than throwing it into irreparable calamity - try leaning into it just a bit further.

LouisDanes

1 month, 2 weeks ago

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something I had to learn a long time ago is never destroy this things you create. the joy of creation is not in its purity, or in is completion, but in the act itself. you made something, even if it was a while back. and that matters, even if you feel you can't come back and do it justice now. but you have something to look back on and know what you've done in your life and it is a disservice to yourself to erase that, even if you feel a spark of dissatisfaction from not being able to complete it. take what you did and learn from it, move on to greater things, and take joy in the fact that you did what you did, not sorrow that it's unfinished.

beforethefall

1 month, 2 weeks ago

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I bet it will be a great moment so long as you've set it up appropriately so your readers can understand its full context properly (not requiring the writer's eyes).

Sometimes I have a scene that I like but 'won't work', so I strip out that page and the page before and after, and stitch them back together with fresh writing from a different angle then compare the two and keep the better one. As a thought.

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