Bogged Down

How it happened, I don't know, but I've written far more about one single scenario than I have about any other scene in this entire novel. That would be wonderful, word count-wise, but in the larger scheme of things, it's not even an important scene. 

My last three writing sessions were all dedicated to it, because it never seemed to end. What this tells me is that I've lost my way. Finally yesterday, I told myself, oh, come on! Be done with it already! Thus, after the hated guitar player got himself arrested, I completely bypassed the part where my main character bailed him out and instead put them back on the road. Hopefully, "road" equals moving on with the story. 

And here's the thing: none of these three supporting characters will play any role in the subsequent plot. MC is definitely going to fire her guitar player and probably her manager as well. The drummer in this scenario turns out to be the good guy, but I've got no slot for him, either. So, two days stretched into an enormous scene for no good reason except to show the pits of degradation my MC has fallen into.

By comparison, I barely touched on the big tour MC took part in; the one her superstar mentor had invited her to join. Even MC's record label signing, a really big deal, was dispensed with in a few paragraphs. 

In order to support this loooong scene, it'll need to take on more significance. Maybe instead of driving back to Nashville, once she jettisons a couple of her traveling companions, she impulsively swerves off toward the west and ends up back in her adopted hometown. I wouldn't quite know what to do with the drummer, though, unless he decides he's had enough drama and quits.

Though I haven't dared read back anything I've written, I'm fairly certain it's good and I won't want to delete it. It's got it all ~ character, weather, anger, disillusionment. But the fact remains that it dominates the story, something I never intended.

What really annoys me is that the scene is so different, meat-wise, from the others. As hard as I try to not rush the story, I'm still shortchanging scenes that shouldn't be shortchanged. Why couldn't I elongate other scenes like this? A big part of that is, I'm more familiar with the current scenario than with the others that required research in order to even appear that I knew what I was writing about. For balance, I'll need to go back and flesh out those other scenes, which is a real bummer. 

For now, I guess I'll keep pushing ahead. She's finally back on the road, at least. 

One can never say I'm a quitter.