Afraid I'll muck it up.

Starting the rewrite for "Takeover" today.

I have three new scenes I want to write. Part of me wants to just write them and then look for where to put them. Another part of me thinks I ought to read the book and figure out where to best place them.

Don't be lazy, Duncan.

Rewriting is all mental, man.



All right, cogitated all day and didn't get anywhere. Two of the action scenes would have to take place right after each other, which won't help as much as I thought. Both about 40 pages in.

So I'll have to pick one of them.

The second action scene needs to be shoehorned in at about 80 pages in.  It can be done, if I'm crafty enough.

Rewriting is all about being crafty, man.



Next day: Didn't write anything yesterday. Had some ideas, got a general sense of where the new scenes could fit, but I don't think I nailed it down. I think I don't want to write anything until I've got it nailed down.

Problem is, a bunch of phrases and scenes came to me that I didn't write down and now I'm afraid I might have lost them. I think the trick might be to carry a physical notebook around and write those down when they come to me.

Rewriting is all about being flexible, man.



I just can't get anything going at home. I don't know why. So I may just head out into the woods with a thermos and a sandwich and see what happens.




I've never before had this happen: I'm afraid of the rewrite, not because I don't want to do it but because I'm afraid I'll muck it up. I think this book has great potential, and if I'm really patient and coax out as much of the potential as possible, it could be a really good book.

Rewriting is all about being patient, man.