I’ve been getting to know my newest characters. We need time to understand each other, and find out what direction their story will go. But it hasn’t been a simple process, because one single scene has gotten all stuck in the tubes of my mind. It’s causing a blockage with all the other ideas backing up behind it, inaccessible until I’ve cleared this scene out.
The problem is, I don’t know where the scene goes. I don’t know when it happens in the plot, and I don’t know how they get there. I don’t even know the entire reason these two people are in this situation together. How can I write a scene if it’s floating around by itself? How can I create a disconnected piece of an overall work?
My solution will be to just write the damned scene and be done with it. Later, when I’ve sorted my ideas through, I can either adapt whatever comes pouring out to fit with the overall established story, or I can scrap it and re-write the scene in a way that works. Because right now, all I’m doing is circling this one moment over and over, and it’s not going anywhere.
I can only imagine other writers suffer from similar issues as this. Where something outside of the canon needs to be written right now, without you even getting a chance to think it all the way through. Not in a good way, where your words are in a state of flow and everything is happening effortlessly, but in the way that you are completely preoccupied with something that isn’t helpful at this point in time.
~A
The Fane 
Maybe just write down whatever comes from it and then put it away till you’re ready to take a look at it again. Maybe in the process of writing it you will learn something more about the two people, or what it all means. Maybe not. Either way, it’ll be out of your system.
That’s exactly what I thought! 😀
~A
I’ve got at least one script that’s stuck in the canon progression, but where I’ve figured out a ton of stuff that comes later. I’ve been having a similar problem with not wanting to jump ahead, but I think your idea might end up being the only way I’ll ever finish it. Who knows, maybe by fleshing out the later events, I can sorta reverse-engineer a way out of the current problem scene. Thanks!
And writing scenes out of place isn’t a “waste”, even if they’re not included later: all writing is part of practicing and improving your craft! So all-in-all, it’s probably just best for us to let things come as they want! At least, that sounds reasonable to me. 😉 Have fun with your script!
~A