Well, I’m at the point I knew was ahead of me – the point I’d need to remove a third of my story so far. Y’see, I’d gotten too damn clever for my own good. I told the first half of the story from one character’s point of view. Then, because of all the questions I’d piled up by that time, I thought I’d tell the same story from another character’s point of view. It answered those questions all right, but you wound up with a strangely schizophrenic story and a large risk of losing the reader. Hemingway said “Kill your darlings”. Holy geez, it’s hard to do, and I LOVE what I have in the second half of this tale, but I know all this extra stuff is wrong for the story. It’s not about the other character. It’s only about the primary character. I need somehow to condense all that other stuff into a chapter’s worth of exposition and get on with the actual story. It’s gotta go, that’s all.
I have debated long over this – about a year, if you can believe it – so it is with a heavy sigh I have removed 21,000 words from my novel tonight. Perhaps you heard the sigh from your house tonight and thought it was just the wind…
Phew! I admire that you are listening to your writer’s sense. Carry on!
Thanks for the kind note. Hard to yank this bunch out, that’s for certain. But I know it’s right.
Mostly I know it’s right. Partially I’m thinking… WHAT THE HELL!!?
Oh, the jedi are going to feel that one.
Gotta pick up the pieces and keep moving Steve
Yeap.
Rollin’ on.
Thanks for the support, everybody!