Honestly, the "attached to pretty prose that went nowhere" part hit way too close to home. I did the same thing for a year, fell in love with scenes that had zero plot purpose, and had to kill all of them anyway. Having a roadmap, even a loose one, stops you from polishing chapters that are just dead ends.

My oaks didn't even make it to the caging stage. The deer treated my saplings like a salad bar and a scratching post in the same week. Glad yours are bouncing back, mine just became expensive mulch.

You count 200 and think you've earned the right to be nervous? Man, that's backwards if you ask me. That close call in 2019 should've taught you that being nervous is the right state from day one, not something you unlock like a badge of honor. I've done maybe half that many rigs over the years and the ones that scare me most are the ones where the crew starts feeling too confident, you know, like they've "seen it all." That paranoid feeling isn't a reward, it's the safety check that never gets to retire, no matter how many drums you've hung.