It's incredible how often this keeps happening. I was wading through quagmire last week (figuratively) but eventually got to a point where my protagonists were through a particular geographical hazard. I then came to the part about describing what the landscape looked like on the other side and I realised I just couldn't articulate it. I went so far as to consider physically making the landscape in some kind of 3D world creator, or Minecraft or AutoCAD, or whatever, just so I could look at it and describe it that way.
It was at that point that I realised that this feature (a deep ravine close to a coast line) just DID not work, particularly the very conveniently located trees at the tops of it that had been coaxed into forming natural bridges (by whoever, whenever, for whatever reason). It just didn't fit even on a geographical level.
So, on Sunday I ditched it completely, as well as the perilous crossing that actually ends up getting experienced by 3 separate groups of characters. In its place, I just had a far more simple event taking place at a far more plausible location that still ended up allowing all the various groups to end up at A, B & C where they were supposed to, whilst still maintaining the thrills and drama of the ravine event.
I guess, the only reason I am writing this is to encourage some of my fellow budding writers like @Capricorn42, @msstice and @Joshua Jones not to be afraid to just dropkick into touch anything that doesn't feel right. If it's awkward and doesn't flow, that's probably because it doesn't fit and there's always a far better solution at the back of your brain just waiting to be scratched into being.
It was at that point that I realised that this feature (a deep ravine close to a coast line) just DID not work, particularly the very conveniently located trees at the tops of it that had been coaxed into forming natural bridges (by whoever, whenever, for whatever reason). It just didn't fit even on a geographical level.
So, on Sunday I ditched it completely, as well as the perilous crossing that actually ends up getting experienced by 3 separate groups of characters. In its place, I just had a far more simple event taking place at a far more plausible location that still ended up allowing all the various groups to end up at A, B & C where they were supposed to, whilst still maintaining the thrills and drama of the ravine event.
I guess, the only reason I am writing this is to encourage some of my fellow budding writers like @Capricorn42, @msstice and @Joshua Jones not to be afraid to just dropkick into touch anything that doesn't feel right. If it's awkward and doesn't flow, that's probably because it doesn't fit and there's always a far better solution at the back of your brain just waiting to be scratched into being.
