Fighting the urge...

I have once again reached the point in the first draft where I am past the set-up and into the beginning of the middle. And as always, I have the urge to go back and totally revise what I've done.

I understand why this happens. I don't do an extensive outline. My synopsis is pretty much it, so to go from a fifteen or so page story to a full book means I'm going to be adding material. And characters. That is why I also refer to my first draft as "the kitchen sink draft," as in, "everything but the." So right about a third of the way through, I realize I've added a lot of things that may or may not make the final cut. I also may have wandered off the original path of the story. A little wandering's not bad, but what if I've wandered too far afield? So I start to think maybe I need to go back and evaluate what I've done so far.

However, there are reasons not to. For one thing, I'm going to be adding a lot more before I'm done, and cutting and rewriting accordingly. Why not wait until I'm done the whole manuscript and see what I've got before I start with the cutting and rewriting? Also, I can get stuck revising and rewriting. Well, okay, it happened once, but that was enough and the only way to get out of it was to just write and not worry about it. So I'm thinking the best thing to do is keep going.

What if I've gone off the beaten path? I've already realized I dropped a subplot, and have taken steps accordingly. If I find I've gone too far afield at the end, I can always retrace and fix. After all, revising is not a problem for me, and I expect to do a lot anyway.

Therefore, I shall resist the urge to go back and reread and rewrite and forge ahead.

Oh, and I must say, after watching Survivor last night...one word: James.

Okay, a few more words. James, the comely and quiet and modest. Audience manipulation or not, I've got somebody I care about already. I don't think I've ever been so tense about the outcome of a first challenge so much in the history of Survivor. Go James!