I Made An Error

I did something wrong.  I should have followed the rules but I was in a grove and just went with it.  By the time I stopped I had a mess on my hands that took longer to fix than to create the mess in the first place.  Yes, I am talking about writing.  I was working on my 5^th book yesterday and I had the creative juices flowing.  Everything was written as fast as I could type.  I felt glorious like I was writing my first story.  Then I had to refer to a character and I couldn’t remember his name.  So I went back through the manuscript, not seeing the scene with character in it.  “I know I wrote it,” I said.  “I’m sure I wrote it.  Did I write it?  Oh no, it’s not here.  I didn’t write it!”  Then I looked at my outline and there it was.  The problem was I was so far off the story line I could not just add it as I had planned.  I thought of all the times I had told writers to stick to their outline.  It has served me well in the past.  Then I go and totally ignore it for a section.  I was left with two choices.  Either I could erase what I had written since the point where I went off script and rewrite it with the proper section. (For the record, no author likes to delete their work.  It’s like giving away your baby.)  Or I could try to find a point to try to fit in the new section into the story.  I chose the second option.  Then I searched and searched line by line to find a place to enter my scene.  After a little adjusting before and after the opening it was time for the scene to be written.  It took me 3 hour to add the section but it taught me a lesson.  I wrote a detailed outline for a reason.  If I stick to it the story will come along fine.  To my fans remember, always follow your outline.