Overcoming Obstacles

I have what, in my opinion, is a pretty cool scene, in which my heroine assaults the hero under the misconception that he has done something unforgivable.
The difficulty I am having, is that under the latest revisions in the earlier chapters, this scene is going to have to be moved, or rather, played out a little bit differently. There is some pretty good dialogue, and also a well played out scene in which the heroine has assistance from her companions. However, these companions will not fit at present unless I can find a new way of introducing them, but I don't know if I can make it work in a practical way. Also, the dialogue will need to undergo some cuts and rewriting, which is a pity, because I really like the original scenario, but I don't know how to preserve it, again, without it becoming illogical and impractical.
So, my current challenge is to play around with ways of steering the plot in a direction that will allow for this scene to undergo as little change as possible. Removing the heroine's companions isn't such a big deal. It's mostly her motives and reasons for her anger that I'd like to retain. About half of it would work quite well under the current storyline, and she will already be where she needs to be to strike.

How do other authors overcome annoying little obstacles in their plot without compromising believability?

About My Book

By now, you are probably wondering what my book is about. While I do not wish to give away anything about my story, I will give you a glimpse into the sort of theme you can expect.
It is a tale of elves and dark elves, dwarves and dragons, forbidden love and revenge. My heroes will find themselves caught up in the plans of an evil dark elf, who's schemes will send them on dangerous adventures into other realms and fighting for their survival.
A war is coming, one they might not be able to win. Will the heroes find a way of defeating their enemy before it's too late? Well, you'll just have to wait until the book is complete to find out!

The Long and Winding Road

As the plot thickens, I am adding lots of new twists to the story, many new turns I didn't expect when I embarked upon this journey. It has definitely been interesting.
The struggle to not become discouraged as I find myself, at times, cutting more than I write, has been one of the biggest obstacles. That, as well as doing the work to set the stage and rearrange the order of events, before I can dive into the fun parts: writing out the scenarios and scenes which have been playing themselves out in my head! It can be extremely tedious and frustrating at times.
However, today, I have enjoyed the rewards of my labours! A lot of hard work has paid off and I was finally able to push the plot along, weaving in the twists and building up a bit of suspense. After breaking up one chapter into two, making some needed cuts and rewriting sections that weren't going to fit with the new plans, I finally got to work on a couple of scenes I've been excited about. These new scenes will help to build up the tension needed to send my characters off on their adventures, or misadventures. It will be fun to see how it all plays out.
Still, I have a very long ways to go, with many more challenges ahead!

Methods that have helped me stay focused and not lose momentum are:
★building upon my basic outline as I go along.
★jotting down ideas in my notes as they come to me, so that I don't forget. Sometimes, I even write out entire scenes as I think of them, saving them to my notes until I am ready to use them.
★if I write something, only to make a change that makes that bit seem incompatible with the new content,  rather than delete it right away, I save it to my notes, as I am sometimes able to salvage some scraps or glean a little inspiration from it.                

This might all seem very basic, but for me it has been helpful.

To those of you who are taking the time to follow my progress, thank you for reading. Stay tuned for more updates!

Writing My First Fantasy Book

So, I am writing my first book, and yes, it is a fantasy. I was first inspired to write this book due to a senior year English class writing assignment. The assignment was to write a short story following the hero cycle.
Well, I was very excited about this assignment, since this was a theme I really love! Knights, warriors, magic, elves, etc! Of course, ever the procrastinator, I put off beginning my short story until the night before it was due, when the creative juices finally began to flow.
Funnily enough, I scored higher than any other student in my class, not only with a perfect score, but also extra credit on the story I wrote, which was several times longer than the assignment called for. Yes, I know, bragging rights, even if only for a small accomplishment. But it was as a direct result of that seemingly insignificant accomplishment, that I received the motivation to write a book. My teacher had encouraged me to develop my short story, and I took his suggestion to heart.
Over the years, I've gotten rather sidetracked from writing, and my story took a back burner for a while. From time to time, I'd come back to it, only to scrap everything and start new, every time. Until now.
Finally, I have the inspiration I needed to move the story along. My plot is thickening. My characters are developed and continuing to develop. Ideas are streaming in, and in these last few months, I have managed to put more work into this project than ever before. I still have a long way to go, but I am confident that this time I will finish it!
In fact, what I am considering is turning this into a series, but my mind is not yet made up. Time will tell!

A Question Of Romance

I have a question to put to the men who are fans of fantasy books.
Especially you macho types!
First: a lot of stories incorporate some level of a love story, even if it's of a lesser focus. At what point does the love story get to be too much for your masculine sensibilities?
Second: concerning sex, implied or otherwise. How much is too much? (I'm talking about the amount of sex that is mentioned in a book. I don't care to know how much you have sex. 😜)

Purpose of this question: I'm writing a fantasy book, and yes, there is a love story. Of course, being a woman, I like that sort of thing, but I'd like my book to be interesting to both female and male readers.
Personally, my preferences in books knows two extremes. On the chick-flick end of the spectrum, think Jane Austen. But what I really like is way off on the other end of the spectrum. Think Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Sagas— bloody, violent, full of gory battle scenes, a lot of crude language, and absolutely NOT targeting female audiences! Sex scenes are limited to a more implied reference, descriptives along the lines of "rutting", and not much more than that. And of course, I am a huge fan of Terry Pratchett's discworld series. His style is geared towards a much broader audience, and he avoids overly sentimental and sexuality. But he does like his little jokes. 😉
In my book, I am struggling to find the correct balance for both the love story, as well as the level of intimacy. What I don't want to do is lower the quality to the equivalent of pornography. Yes, I'd like to work in a few smoky scenes as befits the overall plot and romance, without overdoing it.
It would be very helpful for me to get feedback from male readers, telling me what they do and don't like in a fantasy book that has a love story woven in. Or would most masculine male readers prefer to avoid a romance altogether? If that is the case, then there wouldn't be much point gearing my book to target male audiences equally, because the love story is a key component to what I am working on.