Revising the Wrong Book

There's something about my dining room (the blinds? the light? the color?) that breeds plot solutions. Many of BRIAR-BOUND's revision fixes came from sitting at that table, talking to the wall about the characters. The biggest change in the last rewrite of BB -- the addition of Stump -- happened in that room.

Well, it happened again yesterday. I wasn't even working on fiction, was choosing science standards for study guide questions. One minute I'm sifting through physical science goals for first graders; next minute, I'm talking to the wall about the history of the Briars. And I found a really elegant way to raise one BB character's stakes and bring two plot points together to a time that's more immediate to the story.

The problem? (Let's overlook that I talk to walls to revise; the Crazy is well documented.) The problem is: I'm not supposed to be revising BB; it's on submission. I'm supposed to be finishing DAUGHTER. And writing science questions.

What do you do when the siren call comes from the wrong project?


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