Sometimes less is more. So, I’ve just lost about a thousand words in my Hemo Sapiens story. Cutting the fat to retain the lean.
As difficult as it is to kill off that which you’ve spawned is difficult. It’s even harder when you are trying to reach a word-count goal. I’ve gone from about 32,500 to 31,500 in a day, on my way to 40,000+.
I’ll get there. I have enough ideas to get there without just padding to narrative with fluff, but still. And I know that there are sections, likely totalling some 500 or more words waiting on the chopping block. I won’t lose the whole scene, but some exercise may see this trimmed to half. I’m putting this off. No need to drop some 1,500 words overnight. We’ll see. This scene may get a reprieve.
Revisioning is not just proofreading and copyediting. It’s a chance to reimagine.
And this is just my first draft. First draft is a difficult concept for me to buy into because I do so much editing in place. The story’s not even finished, and I am making wholesale changes. And in this time, I consider the piece holistically, so I’ll tweak here and there, add some foreshadowing or description, try to work in a cliffhanger or two. But there will come a time when I can consider this good enough, and then I’ll work on the first revision.
I like the word revision. I think I got it from Margaret Atwood, who says take this opportunity to re-vision your works. Revisioning is not just proofreading and copyediting. It’s a chance to reimagine. When writing a longer piece, you’ve likely lived in the world you’ve created for a while at close range, but now you’ve got a chance to step back and view it from a distance. Take some time off and revisit with fresh eyes.
Ridley Park 