So I did some work on Assassin 3 this weekend. I didn’t get a lot of writing done, mainly because I got stuck — and basically rewrote the same three chapters three different times. Sigh.

I usually don’t do that. I just go on my merry way, keep writing, and make a note to fix it later. But this time, I felt like I couldn’t go on without fixing the scenes — right then and there. I needed to know what I was doing with the story at that point so the rest of it would flow smoothly. I was stuck, in other words.

So how did I change it? Well, first I had Gin (the assassin) eating dinner in a restaurant while she’s waiting for a guy at another table to go the bathroom so she can kill him in there. Boring, I thought. I needed a better setting than that. So I changed the restaurant to a riverboat casino. Much more unique and interesting, and much more in keeping with the Southern flavor of the series.

Which, in turn, meant I had to change who Gin was eating with from her love interest to Finnegan Lane (Gin’s best friend/handler). Only since they were on a riverboat now, they weren’t even eating dinner. I’ll stop here to keep the confusion to a minimum. But the changes went on from there.

But now, I feel like I’ve finally gotten a handle on things and can write the rest of the story. At least until I get stuck again. :rolleyes:

What about you guys? What do you do when you get stuck on something or at work? Do you plow on through or spend time fixing it until it’s just right?