Progress Report, in which I discuss the perils of pantsing

Mired in chapter 6 of the Apocalypse Pictures Presents rewrite, and boy, doesn’t Magic Meter know it:

This is a chapter that I had marked for possible deletion.  As originally written, it presented a false crisis, and set up a future conflict that never paid off.  The perils of a first draft, I guess, especially for a pantser like me.

So I was ready to just cut the chapter entirely, but then a thought or two for salvaging parts of it occurred to me.  I started fiddling, and . . .

And that’s about as far as I’ve gotten.  Not gonna lie, folks:  this lack of production is frustrating.  I knew this rewrite was going to be tough, and right now, it’s kicking my ass.  Or maybe I’m being lazy.  Bit of both, probably.

Anyway, here’s a bit of what I did manage to accomplish:

Gil made numerous revisions to the dialogue as they proceeded with the read-through, which she supposed was to be expected, given that he’d drafted it only a few days previous.  Not that it made the job any easier.  Complicating matters, Gil insisted they work on some rudimentary blocking, even as she and the rest of the cast struggled with their new lines.

“That’s crazy,” Jazmine had said, brushing away some strands of hair stuck to her face by sweat.  “We can’t block the scene without a set.”

“Use your imagination.”  Gil swept an arm.  “We’ll be on Brownstone Street on the backlot.  There’ll be a row of porches.  How hard can it be?”

“But—“

“Look, we’re going to have a few days, tops, to get this done.  If we’re lucky.  We have to maximize our time.  Every minute counts.”

No updates for Write Club.

Onward, if only at a glacial pace.

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