More Mad Scientist's Son

Mad Scientist 14
Doing this blog is making me aware of how much I’m changing in this version of Mad Scientist (version number 3 if you count the discovery draft). It’s not down to just language yet by any means. My changes that attempt to clarify theme earlier in the manuscript are making me think I need to cut characters and completely redo the next few chapters. It feels like I went off the path here. By theme here I’m talking about what is lurking beneath the surface story—what ideas and issues are being worked out in this story.

Mad Scientist 15
I realized some things about the main characters that I didn’t understand earlier. I just kept working on adding to manuscript and finally it seemed clear.
Why oh why couldn’t I see this before? I don’t want to seem ungrateful to the writer Gods. After all, it was a glorious morning, seeing the way to go. I praise them effusively. But this process is so damn messy.
You know what I’m grateful for though is the ability of self-delusion. It is so helpful that I’m able to think I’m writing better than I am at each stage of the writing. Okay, I know there are problems, but I still manage to find pleasure in a good sentence, an insight into character, etc…
So today I see the motivation of an important secondary character which will effect Frank, too, and more especially another important secondary character, and it’s so much better than last draft, so much more believable within the context of the draft.
But here’s another thought, back to the last paragraph. Maybe it doesn’t matter when I come to my insights in writing as long as I come to them. And that ability to be happy within the context of a draft, that self-delusion, is a kind of gift.