My writing group in Austin had a total plot meltdown last night

We were workshopping my sci-fi story and someone pointed out a huge logic hole in the core premise, which basically meant scrapping 3,000 words. I spent the next two hours with them just building a new, solid foundation from scratch. Has anyone else had to do a major emergency rewrite right before a deadline?

4 comments

4 Comments

kimblack2mo ago

Had that happen with a mystery novel draft last year... the killer's alibi made zero sense if you thought about it for five seconds. I just took a breath, made a huge pot of coffee, and listed every single plot point on index cards. Started moving them around until the timeline actually worked. It was brutal but the story got way better. Sometimes you just gotta tear it down to the studs.

clairep102mo ago

Ugh, I could never. That sounds like a special kind of torture. My brain just shuts down if I have to rework something that much. I'd rather scrap the whole idea and start fresh with something new that actually makes sense from the beginning.

the_max2mo ago

Honestly that's how all the best stuff gets built, through total collapse first.

nancyramirez1mo ago

Wasn't there a quote from some famous writer about having to kill your favorite parts to save the story? That's what this reminds me of. It's like you get so attached to a cool scene or a clever line that it actually breaks the whole thing. Letting it all fall apart is scary but you have to do it. Then you can pick up the pieces that actually work and build something way stronger.