Outtakes 330

Make It Work

Cait Collins

I was three chapters from the end of my Route 66 short story when I learned that one of the places I planned to feature was closed. I needed that site to help my heroine move forward with her life. When someone is afraid of dark places, a tour of a cavern sounded ideal. So it was time to find another route to helping the character heal.

I opened my research books and began looking for something to fill the need. I knew there were mining operations in Missouri, but were tours available? Did the company require a minimum number of people to schedule a tour? I took a while, but I have my fix. It has made it easier to allow her to realize the mistakes she has made in her life.

Roadblocks in our work are not reasons to scrap the project and move on to something else. They should be considered opportunities to make the story better and maybe more insightful. I don’t like to scrap a project until I have dug myself a hole so deep I can’t crawl out. Even then, I do not destroy the work. I keep it under the bed and revisit it occasionally. Maybe one day, I’ll discover the fix for it.