The word of the day is...Editing!
(syndicated from my website wordpress www.amwhitsett.com/wordpress)
So, that novel I was working on? All the way back in November? Yeah. I finished it. I. Finished. It. Are you screaming for joy yet? I am. I finished it in February-all 110,000 words of it. Now, they are not a pretty lot, these 110,000 words. Some are quite homely and many of them are prone to break out in skirmishes between each other when the wrong ones get too close together. Not good. However, I have discussed the problem with each and every one of the 110,000 words and we have decided to work out a compromise so that I don’t get a stress headache every time my eyes wander over them. We have agreed that I shall EDIT them. Edit them ALL. I will appraise each for his or her usefulness and fit and move or REmove accordingly. Thus far I have already shaved 1,100 words off of chapter 1. That’s only like 1%, but by the time I get to chapter 22, we’re getting somewhere significant with this. Do you know what I found out? Not ALL of the words are homely! Some are pretty and nice and help old ladies across the street. I intend to pet those, give them hot chocolate, and tuck them in safely where they belong. I have more scenes to add, several to move and spread out, a couple to rewrite entirely, some to delete entirely, and a whole storyline to lay in as a seam to the two plots that I have going. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I would like to tell you a secret about it: It’s not going to suck! When I’m done-I truly think that it’s not going to suck. That is not to say that it doesn’t right now, but the future is finally bright and shining!
Huzzah!
Is this worth the sleepless nights and the multiple overpriced Moleskine notebooks I filled in the process? YES!
I’ve procrastinated enough. Back to my timeline. Who knew editing was FUN?
*squee*
So, that novel I was working on? All the way back in November? Yeah. I finished it. I. Finished. It. Are you screaming for joy yet? I am. I finished it in February-all 110,000 words of it. Now, they are not a pretty lot, these 110,000 words. Some are quite homely and many of them are prone to break out in skirmishes between each other when the wrong ones get too close together. Not good. However, I have discussed the problem with each and every one of the 110,000 words and we have decided to work out a compromise so that I don’t get a stress headache every time my eyes wander over them. We have agreed that I shall EDIT them. Edit them ALL. I will appraise each for his or her usefulness and fit and move or REmove accordingly. Thus far I have already shaved 1,100 words off of chapter 1. That’s only like 1%, but by the time I get to chapter 22, we’re getting somewhere significant with this. Do you know what I found out? Not ALL of the words are homely! Some are pretty and nice and help old ladies across the street. I intend to pet those, give them hot chocolate, and tuck them in safely where they belong. I have more scenes to add, several to move and spread out, a couple to rewrite entirely, some to delete entirely, and a whole storyline to lay in as a seam to the two plots that I have going. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I would like to tell you a secret about it: It’s not going to suck! When I’m done-I truly think that it’s not going to suck. That is not to say that it doesn’t right now, but the future is finally bright and shining!
Huzzah!
Is this worth the sleepless nights and the multiple overpriced Moleskine notebooks I filled in the process? YES!
I’ve procrastinated enough. Back to my timeline. Who knew editing was FUN?
*squee*