I'm still in the editing phase of my book, and it doesn't seem like much to chop 5,000 words from a manuscript, but I did it. However, it's still quite a lot - currently at 105,000 where it was previously 110,000. This is simply being done by cutting out unnecessary words and taking out redundant ones as well. For example,the word 'only' appeared 104 times!! I was able to slim it down to 46. This tedious process is necessary, and as I plod along, I keep reminding myself that the 'end product' will be a polished manuscript. It will finally be something I can proudly hand over to all of the agents and publishers that will be begging me for it (lol).
I had no idea this would be such hard work, but it HAS to be worth it, in the end. All of the toiling...all of the haggling over a word here or a different sentence there...I'm told this happens most often with your first book, and the ones that follow are easier. I'm a tad skeptical on that, and the jury is out. I'm thinking any following books will be held to the same standard as the first. Herego, they ALL have to be good.
As I say that, though, I'm reminded of all the series' that I listen to on audiobooks. There have been plenty of times I've been disappointed in a book that is part of a series. I can't love them ALL. Some are naturally better than others. That's not a good way to think - as if I'm already lowering my standard - so I refuse to!
I'm so proud of you Dawn! What a tedious job...but will be so worth it one day. Keep up the good work! You've already got many fans. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the tough thing on writing. A lot of times, you have to sacrifice that one perfect line for the whole... It's so hard. I've done it many times, and it sucks. Once, I wrote a 100K piece that I ended up cutting down to 6 words. Now, that's a lot of dross. Stages like the one you are working through are what I like to call writer's fat camp... good luck.
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