You lose a lot but win a few more- New total 47,909

• Thurs, 11/19: 47,713 (1067)
• Sat, 11/21: 46,112 (-1601)
• Sun, 11/22: 47,909 (1797/196)

So it's not great when you have to cut a scene, especially one that you were really excited about.  But I finally came to the realization that it just wasn't taking the story in the right direction.  I cut it, slashed it.  My project went down to 46,112.  This late realization meant I lost 2 days struggling to make it work. So not only lost words but also the progress I might have had yesterday.  The one positive thing is that I've realized some things about my secondary characters and how things will probably shake out in the final chapters.  And since it's now sort of a second draft, it's actually better thought out than it was before and I can start to place some hints about how my characters will behave later in the story.

Well, I'm not thrilled about the writing itself [!!!] but it's the best feeling to have progress again.  I just wish I could break 50K already.  Three days of lots of planning and thinking and writing but only 200 words shook out as true progress.  Lesson learned.  I have to trust the Muse but also not waste too much time trying to make it work. Maybe after I've written a few books, I will become more creative and learn how to make changes work but right now, I know too much how I want the story to flesh out to allow the story to completely go into left field.  And the only way I could have brought it back was impossible based on how everyone else stands. It just wouldn't have worked unless I had all my secondary characters become stupid idiots.  Again, as I get better at writing, I might learn how to be more flexible with the storyline but right now, it just is what it is and I have to trust that original idea and the larger purpose of what I want to accomplish with my little opus.