OK. So I lied. A big honkin? lie.
Well, it wasn?t so much that I lied, but that it turns out I was dead wrong. Very, very wrong. And I?m very happy about that.
In my last blog I wrote about how I?m re-reading Finders Keepers, trying to trim it down to size so that it will be more publisher friendly. In particular, I wrote about how painful it is to now go back and re-cut what I already thought was a tight, clean manuscript, and how I hate getting rid of words. I?m a writer. Writer?s wrOK. So I lied. A big honkin? lie.
Well, it wasn?t so much that I lied, but that it turns out I was dead wrong. Very, very wrong. And I?m very happy about that.
In my last blog I wrote about how I?m re-reading Finders Keepers, trying to trim it down to size so that it will be more publisher friendly. In particular, I wrote about how painful it is to now go back and re-cut what I already thought was a tight, clean manuscript, and how I hate getting rid of words. I?m a writer. Writer?s write. We hate to cut. We [i]hate[/i] to cut.
Well, I started making my cuts the other day, and it turns out … I love it.
Seriously. Love it, love it, love it.
By taking another look at Finders Keepers, by taking a very close look, I?m forcing myself to get rid of every last word I don?t need. And it hasn?t been nearly as tough as I thought. I?m not even cutting away big pieces either. It?s just a few words here, a few words there. Since Finders Keepers has 100 chapters, I?m reading them (out of order), looking to cut about 100 words a chapter. At that rate, I?ll cut about 10,000 words, and nothing major will need to go, and I?ll get Finders Keepers down to about 117,000 words total (from 127,000 words, where it is now). Getting to 117,000 would be a really nice accomplishment. I?d love to get down to 110,000, but that might be tough.
Now, these targets are a little arbitrary. Industry standard is that 120,000 is pretty much an acceptable maximum for first novels, so that’s my benchmark. But every word that I can come under 120,000 will help–just so long as it doesn’t hurt the story. And don’t worry, Finders Keepers will be sharp and zany as every. Just a little bit tighter. And that’s only a good thing.
At this point, I don?t think I?m averaging 100 words a chapter, though. Maybe a bit less. Maybe around 75. But still, that?s 7,500 words total. And that?s not bad. Plus, I only just started a few days ago. Who knows what I?ll discover? Maybe I?ll find that a particular chapter isn?t even necessary, or that I just overdid it in one section or another. Either way, I?m snipping away, and finding it really satisfying. It?s like a sculpture that needs very light, very subtle chiseling to smooth out the rough edges. But since it?s a large sculpture, there are many small rough edges.
My guess is that it will take me about another two weeks to finish the chiseling, and then another week to implement the changes and do a new word count. Then I?ll see where I?m at.
I admit it. I was wrong. I thought I would hate having cut this much, but as it turns out, it?s a great thing indeed.
