Nuts!

I wrote 2000 words this morning, in between juggling my little crisis with my unemployment benefits (thank goodness I will probably have another job in a few weeks!), and after a break for a little grilled cheese and tomato soup, I read back over what I'd written, just to get my brain back into my story.

To my dismay, what I'd written this morning just wouldn't work. It wouldn't work at all. For a variety of reasons. I'd written my character into a situation that was all wrong for her. She would be forced to react in a way that wouldn't feel in-character to the reader. So I chopped out the entire new chapter, and I'm back to Square One. Or Square Five, since this is the fifth chapter.

I try not to edit as I go. I prefer to give a quick editorial pass after I've finished a draft, and then let somebody who's not so close to the story (my agent) tell me what needs improvement or outright destruction. I find that I produce a better story at a much greater speed if I ignore all my inhibitions and just write. But every once in a while, you can tell you're not heading in the best direction. So the chapter went, and I'm going to start again, taking a different tack on this scene and probably utilizing a different POV character. Once in a while, a little judicious editing as one writes is a good thing.

I do have a problem I still haven't figured out, though. How do I sneak young Hatshepsut out of the walls of the harem? She's wearing a dress (unusual for her), so climbing a tree and jumping over the wall isn't really an option.