After I blogged yesterday about the wrong turn I took with my story, I found myself with an unexpected writing day. So, I went back and expunged that entire scene, right? No. I kept going.
I figure anything can be deleted at any time, so why not play the scene out and see where it goes? To recap, my main character is being sent out on a sketchy bar tour by her label. Sketchy for many reasons, but primarily because they're making her foot the bill for it. (There was some chatter about reimbursement, but that wasn't explicitly promised.) Add to that, these are awfully low-rent establishments, most in the middle of nowhere. The label is only granting her two musicians to take along. This whole scenario, I admit, is pretty implausible. Granted, her label has little faith in her, but this just seems cruel. Maybe it's not personal; maybe the label is having financial difficulties ~ don't know; haven't thought that deeply about it.
So, she's introduced to the two guys right before they have to all climb into the car together for the drive to Iowa. The drummer's okay, but the guitar player is a pompous jerk. And that's where I left things. My concern was that I was repeating an earlier scenario by introducing new players again, and that it would make for an exhausting read.
Well, yesterday I decided to see if I could make it interesting. The jury is still out.
What happens? They reach their first destination and blah blah blah ~ cheap hotel rooms, MC holding her breath to see if the three of them can actually gel as an act. Really just preliminaries to get out of the way (and not leave dreaded plot holes). Oh, and her manager (who's along for the ride) has fallen for the pompous jerk, which makes MC's trip even more unbearable. MC really, really hates this guy. The first gig goes fine. It's a generic club; ordinary.
Their next destination, however, leads them into the countryside along miles of two-lane blacktop that has MC convinced they've taken a wrong turn. Nope. The bar is there, in the middle of nowhere. The closest motel is 52 miles away. Still, the place apparently has a reputation for good live music, so their first move is to zoom the fifty-two miles, only to learn that the little motel is full up. They've got nowhere to stay for the night. The motel clerk mentions that a guy sometimes rents out his one-bedroom walk-up to stranded travelers, so fifty-two miles back they go. The place is the pits ~ one single-size bed, threadbare furnishings, a ratty bathroom. But it gets worse. They head back to the redneck bar to set up, then they sit around and wait. There's an opening act, a really bad one, that won't stop playing. Finally, with only an hour and a half left until closing, MC asks the bartender what time her group is supposed to go on. He has no idea what she's talking about.
The End...or rather, that's where I stopped.
Either her label messed up or someone did, but she's not even booked to perform.
Where is this headed? There may be car trouble when they try to leave town. And the pompous ass guitar player might get into some trouble with the sketchy homeowner and wind up in jail. MC's manager may suffer an emotional meltdown. Maybe all of the above. All I know right now is that things are going to plunge downhill quickly.
So, see why I continued? I had to get to the juicy parts. Whether this works out the way I want remains to be seen. I actually like my main character and I don't want to humiliate her, but things happen. She's going to be utterly humiliated.
She may even reach the point where she demands to be released from her contract. I honestly don't know. Therein lies the fun.
Don't immediately give up when you feel like you've taken a wrong turn. You might wind up circling back or you might keep following the unfamiliar road to see what happens.
I was feeling dejected just a day before, and now I'm excited to continue.
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