Working to Get a Scene Right

When you have a conclusion you want to get to, but can't get the logistics of it right, well, that's where I found myself yesterday.

Since my writing sessions now are woefully brief, I find myself finally getting to the "good part" and having to stop. The scene I'm struggling with involves something being smuggled into a room occupied by four people without three of those people being aware. A small room, mind you. In order to pull off the smuggling, several things have to go right. The unknowing characters need to be preoccupied with other things, the person delivering the contraband has to make it seem natural, unsuspicious. 

Because I was just beginning to diagram it out when my allotted time was over, I kept going back to it whenever I had a free minute. I'd come up with a semi-idea and type it out before it escaped my memory, except it looked like this: "Mimi refilled Paula's glass of tea, then walked back to the _____ to _____, while I _____."  I'm getting close to the positioning of the characters, but I still don't know what they're doing at the pivotal moment.

All the while, of course, I need to be mindful to describe the setting (because you know how bad I am at remembering to do so), so the sounds outside the room and how they are magnified every time the door is opened, even the overpowering smells inside the room from the multiple congratulatory bouquets that keep getting delivered.

My initial stab at the scene left the smuggling unexplained. Somehow it just happened. While I don't want to foreshadow the moment, I felt that was a bit too incredulous. I could at least focus on each person's actions as if it was just a mundane continuation of the story, yet if a reader went back to the scene later, they'd understand how it happened ~ like different takes of a movie scene shown from different characters' points of view.

I've had a few of those difficult moments lately; big scenes that absolutely have to be right, and while they're headache inducing, they do present a welcome challenge. 

I also did some housekeeping during my session. The main character has given notice to her boss and to her landlord, she worked out a financial arrangement with her record label (hardly to her satisfaction), and she's packed up her belongings, ready to leave town. I didn't drag out any of those things. I could have put her back at the accounting department, dickering over terms, but it was more efficient to just state the outcome. I've gone WAY overboard on dialogue scenes, I know, and this didn't require another one.

I also decided that she'll be going back to her hometown, something she swore she'd never do, but she's in a bind. The other alternative was moving back to Chance, but she can't expect to live at the hotel, rent-free. At least back home, she can move in with her mother, seeing as how she's broke.

Thus, I condensed all those things into one expository paragraph and moved on to the awards ceremony that Paula invited her to. It would be MC's final obligation in Nashville before leaving town, and who doesn't like reading about the glitz and glamour of an awards show? Of course, I don't know anything about that, but I've still got my imagination! I tried researching it, but came up short. All I essentially gleaned was that the atmosphere is "chaotic". I really wanted to find a first-hand account, but that was not to be.

And that's where things stand at the moment.

It's difficult to remember to follow up on all the asides I've included in the story ~ ones that actually do have consequences, but were originally referenced only casually, like when MC admitted to the accountant that she owed the label eight thousand dollars "minus royalties". That's going to turn out to be a sticking point later on, if I don't forget (!)

So the writing world turns. Another scene and a half. A conundrum to work through. 

It'll get there.