Getting from A to B

In between sniffling, sneezing, wiping watery eyes and coughing, I'm trying to work on my first draft. And as always, I have come to one of those "synopsis dilemmas", as I think of them. You see, in a synopsis, you can have things like "Some time later..." something happens. But when you write the book, you can't always just leap from point A to point B the way you can in the synopsis. You've got to have a bit of a bridge, a bridge you haven't exactly planned in detail.

That was the point where I stopped last night. I was ready to leave my hero's point of view and end a chapter. I'm gearing up for a Major Plot Point scene, but I had to show what had happened with the heroine, who'd been left in a bit of a sticky wicket. I needed a bridge. What to do? Well, there was something about the heroine I could "show not tell," so I did that. I made her position at court a little clearer. I hinted at her "master plan" that I'm now not going to reveal until after the Major Plot Point scene, because I need to keep up the tension.

At this stage of the process, it often feels like I'm blindfolded and trying to "feel" my way forward. Should I have this here, or will I wind up cutting it because I should just "cut to the chase" and get to the plot point? Or will the plot point "fall flat" if I haven't given the readers enough information about my characters and their motivations? I probably won't really have an answer to that until I do later drafts. In the meantime, I'm going to carry on. I've got my bridge, so I feel better, and right now, that's what important.

I hope to feel better in other ways soon. I've finally decided to get some medication. Because trying to write with the watery eyes and the sneezing? Not good.