Writing Outside of Your Comfort Zone
What do you do when the scene you’re writing takes you waaaay outside of your comfort zone?
Storytime. Back when I wrote Bringing Home the Bad Boy I distinctly remember drafting what is now known as “the finger painting scene” between Evan and Charlie and thinking "NO WAY am I going to keep this scene."
For the sheer experimental joy of it, I allowed myself to write the scene, presuming the entire time I’d delete it later. Then something funny happened. I reread the scene the next morning and was shocked at how much I liked it, and at how well the scene worked. That oddly naughty, fun, vulnerable scene is the one I consider to be the heart of the book!
For those of you who read Bringing Home the Bad Boy...Can you imagine if I deleted it?!
HORROR! 😱
In The Bastard Billionaire, I was teetering on that same ledge. I envisioned a scene between Eli and Isa where he's slicing an apple with a paring knife and laying the slices on his tongue. Then I decided he’d use said knife to... *ahem* take a few buttons from Isabella’s shirt. I worried the scene would be strange and uncomfortable, but I also had an underlying sense that I needed to write it. So I went with it… kind of. On the first attempt I pulled back (when I should have been writing and saving the editing for later). Eli sliced off one button. One! When I reread the scene, I realized my fears had come true. The scene was strange and uncomfortable, which is exactly what I didn’t want.
That left two options: Ramp it up or cut it out?
This is where the Write Tip part of this blog comes in… How do you know if the scene you’re writing is too much or not enough? The simple (and likely irritating) answer is… You might not know until after the first draft.
How to (Bravely) proceed:
(1) Write the scene and write it BIG
“The first draft is your cherished time alone with your novel.”
Go all out! In a first draft, you should always write for the trashcan. The “shitty first draft” is not supposed to sparkle. This is your cherished alone time with your novel, so just freaking go for it.
Now is not the time to be fearful or worry what others will think.
(2) Reread it the next day
There is sage advice floating around that suggests that before you make a large purchase you should "sleep on it.” Same goes for your crazy/fun/might work/might not scene. A good night’s sleep before you reread your work should offer clarity on whether you went too far, or not far enough.
But if it doesn’t…
(3) Leave the scene in until the book is finished
Once I complete a draft, I know the characters well. When starting a book it’s hard to really know your characters. I have to peel back their layers like the proverbial onion in order to figure out who they are. (For a bonus writing tip on deepening your relationship with your characters + a free printable, go to this blog.) By the end of the book, I know if I went to far (or not far enough).
When I return to the scene it will either fit with the end, which I now have written, or it will be out of place.
BONUS TIP:
(*) Echo the scene.
If you still love it and want to make it fit, echo a part of the scene later (or earlier) in the book. With The Bastard Billionaire, I had Eli cut off her buttons and open her shirt in that earlier scene, and then I took it farther. Eli used a pair of scissors in his office to cut off um… more clothing. Isa loved his dangerous side and he loved delighting her, so it totally worked. Even later in the book during the black moment, Eli sends her a dress and lingerie to replace the clothing he ruined while they were dating.
Tying the scene into the characters’s story arc can be a lifesaver and give your heroes and heroines their own unique bend.
Quick Summary
1) Write the scene and don’t hold back
2) Reread it later and decide whether or not to keep it
3) If you do keep it, add more examples of this sort of scene into the book