So I'm coming into this
writing gig as a "
pinch hitter," and the
editor would
really rather that I
revise this chapter rather than rewrite it. I gamely agree, and
deconstruct the
chapter heads to form the skeleton of the outline.
Bzzt! Wrong answer! My brain does not at all work the way that the original author's brain works. I wasted 5 hours screwing with the rewrite, trying to follow this dude's flow. I finally gave up, scrapped it, wrote my own outline, and am now warm and happy.
Forget about whether he is a good writer, or whether I am a lousy writer, or vice versa. That doesn't matter; our brains just work in different ways. Had I read the chapter deeply before commencing, I would have realized this.
I am now repeating this mantra three times a day plus iron: before you attempt to follow someone else's game plan, make sure that you're at least from the same planet. Oy.