Good! :hugs:

I was just worried. Heh. Sometimes I over-worry. :-3

To clarify, it wasn’t one day. It was all last week - 5,000 words worth. I then went back and removed another 15,000 words.

And I’m saying that there are useful things that come out of having written things that fall by the wayside, and you can either look for them or beat yourself up over them.

Basically, I’m saying: a) lighten up, b) it isn’t that bad, c) there is value, and d) I luv ya my dear and hate to see you tearing yourself up over something not-so-big-a-deal as this.

In the long run, I really don’t care if you agree or not; but look at what other professional folks in your situation do before you start worrying.

The urge to have every word count, count, count is strong. I can understand that, because I haven’t got time to waste when I blog (much as people don’t understand that and think I’m just dilly-dallying, but then, I have one goal and they have others…), and it’s either produce or die.

In the end, though. It’s just one day.

(And don’t give me the “but if I say it’s one day everyday….” You obviously have enough discipline to say that one day everyday is NOT okay; you need to relax enough so that one odd day is simply that.)

So what I decided to do is to continue on the path that has led me to be a professional writer. I tried the “just write” method and it didn’t work for me. Really, it’s not anymore complicated than that.

On edit: I agree that professional writers and writers alike have knowledge they can share with others. And no matter what level of experience or success, every writer’s opinion has value.

Probably about every other fiction writer has a character bible that they’ve written to, likely a large number of things, that will never be used directly, but inform them as to who the characters are. Some things you need to work out in private, but you will never use them directly. (Since when am I going to use Arcady’s preference for peppermint ice cream in a meaningful way? Probably never. But his attitude about it—which is marked and unusual—I do use, every step of his characterization.)

I guess I’m saying: in fiction, things that are off the page can be as valuable as what’s on the page. Don’t write it off.

And yes, so I’m not a professional. Doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention to what the professionals do and trying to emulate.

Nor does it mean that the experience I’ve had unprofessionally does not apply to professionals as well. Although sometimes it very well doesn’t; I am definitely in peanut gallery territory.

Of course every writer is different, but I’m sure you will be hard pressed to find a professional writer that spends time writing content that will not be used. By professional, I mean someone who makes a full-time living writing – preferably six figures.

Just write is for hobbyists.

I shouldn’t have spent the time writing irrelevant material on scenes that are not going to make the cut (or at least potentially).

By focusing on relevant scenes, I could have worked on voice, obstacles, and so on. The bottom line for me is this: I have to treat this book as though it’s under contract.

I also take fiction writing (and writing) very seriously—not as a mere hobby to toy with, but something I want to eventually make a living from—or at least to be as professionally prolific as possible.

However, I think what you wrote is still important, because writing extra words

a) helps you work out voice details,
b) helps you work out character interactions,
c) makes you aware of possible plot options or roadblocks,
d) keeps you writing—e.g., one slow-down for anybody usually means that you end up with a mental roadblock even for “serious” writing.

I work as a software developer; this is like developing a prototype. Eventually I will throw away the prototype and work on real code, but in the meantime, it’s helped me loosen my muscles with respect to the project design and approach. When it comes to showtime, I have a much better idea of what’s going to happen.

This is why I write flash fiction with characters from my WIPs, that aren’t going to end up in the published work—although maybe someday they’ll be extras. My speciality tends to be characters, and it’s rather like throwing chemicals into a beaker and waiting for the reaction…. something I like to test out before I try to go for the long-term experiment.

So don’t worry. Just keep moving forwards in the main.