Phoenix?

Phoenix by MShades CC 3.0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mshades/2058686377

When I talked about words on the page getting in the way, boy was I underestimating my own prose.

I’ve been beating my head against the wall, trying to figure out how to end a certain scene. I’ve introduced and axed characters; I’ve played Choose Your Own Adventure with dialogue; I’ve even given minor characters ah-ha moments. Nothing was working.

Today, I was IMing with a friend, lamenting that this stupid, newly minted scene wouldn’t end, that I felt I was just rewriting scenes. When my friend read the beginning, she thought she was reading a revision for an earlier scene she read. Hmm.

It took a while for my brain to process everything and somehow, between getting off the train and walking in my front door, I figured it out. Dark empty parking lots ARE good for something.

I was stuck on the scene because I didn’t need it.

Now I’m taking a literary demolition ball to the last few pages. Boot camp breaks you down so the military can rebuild you. Fire-trap houses get torn down for gentrified buildings. Phoenixes rise from the ashes. I’m crossing my fingers that I’ve got a phoenix on my hands.