When you go through a major restructure, even early in the draft process, it amplifies the time it takes to accomplish what you want to get out of it. Occasionally people ask me about writing and I tell them it's okay to write sections that aren't in chronological order, and instead to focus on a section they are passionate about and see clearly. It's a practice that I use in order to help keep myself focused and drag the best work I can out of myself every time I sit down to write.
However, this often leads to what I like to think of as bridging sections. Gaps you've left yourself in the story that require you to cover the transition from one scene to the next, but to not break continuity. In fact, you're reinforcing continuity. In this case I chose to shift an entire chapter back. I felt like it just came too early in the story and required both the audience to be more familiar with the characters and the characters to be more familiar with one another. This move left a vacuous hole that became my job to fill. I've finally done that, completing the draft of an entire bridging chapter last night, but considering it is a restructure the work is not yet done.
Now I need to revisit the chapter that follows, so that it thematically feels more like an extension of the bridging sequence than an unrelated detour. However, I'm enthused by the progress I've made and I'm hoping that it ultimately means the second half of the book flows more freely (considering I've already drafted swaths of the second half the framing of each chapter hopefully will not need as much of a major overhaul as the first half needed.
As per my custom, as of late, here is a section of unedited work: She was livid with herself because she knew she was powerless. She knew she could not defend that which was most precious to her.
