I
decided to scrap 1½ chapters from my current work, a mashup of The War of the Worlds. The writing was pretty good, but not
great.
This
is the part of the story where I departed from my outline. I knew it at the time, but my writing was
flowing, so I decided to go with it. But
one of the main characters was becoming unsympathetic, and the images in my
mind from the outline kept bugging me.
No great lessons here; sometimes the outline has to be shrugged off,
sometimes it’s better to stay with it.
This
reminds me of my hearing the lovely E.J. Swift say she cut 40,000 words from
one of her manuscripts.
I've cut more than 40,000 words from my first book. I cut something like 60,000 words. Then in my sequel, I cut something like 40K. Lots of rewriting. That's what happens when you work with editors and beta readers.
ReplyDeleteIt truly can be said that by the time your story makes it to publication, you will be sick of it.
Cutting can be so hard~ good for you for being disciplined! I need to work on my ability to make cuts ~ my first drafts are usually way too long.
ReplyDeleteAlways go with your gut - if it doesn't feel right, ditch it.
ReplyDelete