Pruning--trimming your WIP down

angeliz2k · May 30, 2008

What a terrible realization to look at my 130k WIP and realize that it really really should not be so long. I love every word, naturally, but I can see where it might be considered bloated.

It's painful to have to cut out huge chunks that I REALLY like. And it's just as painful to try to piece it all back together again!

I'm sure other people have come across the same problem. I'm probably going to have a separate file with the extra material still included, and another file that has been trimmed down.

Hopefully this will help me get an agent!

Phaeal · May 30, 2008

Long first drafts aren't a problem -- the first draft is the time to throw everything into the MS and see how it works.

My current WIP was 132,000 words in first draft. I'm in the second draft now, and by the end of nine out of 32 chapters, I've already deleted around 12,000 words. I've taken out repetitions and unnecessary details, I've made each sentence as lean as possible without sacrificing color and resonance. But I haven't lost one single scene. I've even added new material.

It's amazing how many words you'll find in your work that aren't pulling their weights. Boring words. Flabby words. Out with 'em!

I don't save deleted sections in a special documents. I just keep the first draft intact, working on a copy of it for the second draft. Then if I want something back, I just go back to Draft One and pull it out.

Willowmound · May 30, 2008

It helps if you can develop a sort of masochism about it. Ten pages to the bin? Ouch! Man that hurts good.

(I'm in no way a masochist elsewhere in life. It's only with the editing. Very useful there.)

angeliz2k · May 30, 2008

Haha, yeah, it is kind of painful!

But I'm really bad at trimming down setences and paragraphs, and I do realize that a lot of scenes are unnecessary. I have a flashback chapter of maybe 2000 words that tells a little of the backstory of a character who is actually dead at that point in the story. It's a good scene and definitely fleshes him out . . . but he's a peripheral character who dies in the first chapter and the events don't really have any bearing on the rest of the story. This was, sadly, first on the chopping block.

That's just an example. There are some other similar things that could probably be trimmed out. But I want to keep them. Maybe someday, I'll be so dang famous that people will be clawing to get their hands on deleted scenes! That or the liftovers will always be there for no own satisfaction.

tehuti88 · May 30, 2008

This is why I'm content to write serials, which are supposed to just keep going and going and going!

I have a similar issue regarding editing a different serial for content, though. It's very adult rated, so I rather wish I could put together a toned-down version to post more widely to the Web, but I have no clue how to cut that stuff out without just mutilating the thing to bits. I have no idea how people cut entire sections of writing and still make it flow well; it's something I've never managed to get down right.

James81 · May 30, 2008

I sort of have the opposite problem.

I struggle to reach those fabled 80K words. First draft of my novel is 62K. I'm guessing I'll be ADDING stuff rather than taking it away.

Feathers · May 30, 2008

This is the part I struggle with the most. I tend to rewrite huge chunks, so If I'm not careful, I'll redo my whole story beyond recognition. It looks good but its not the same story anymore. Garrr.

-Feathers

Michael Parks · May 30, 2008

I'm in my first draft, with an 'estimated goal of 130k'. All I know (having learned it from here and others) is that my first draft will be one thing. When I go over it in draft 2, it will become another.

What's worse, at present, I intend to go about draft 2 "texturing" the work... meaning adding words that flesh out a scene, a character, a plot element, etc. So I will be doubly careful with exterraneous b.s., and hopefully brutally efficient in the editing. If not, then I guess I'll learn to. :]

Congrats on the effort so far.

SPMiller · May 30, 2008

In first drafts I rarely write thoughts, feelings, and anticipations. I also write little to no description. My first drafts tend to be action-dialog-action-dialog all the way through. That other stuff goes in during draft two.

Currently I'm rewriting a novel. Even though I've cut about half the scenes, the word count will be much higher.

batgirl · May 30, 2008

I've hacked 18k out of my 130k draft so far. I'm thinking of saving all the deleted scenes and posting them as fanfic when/if this one gets published.
-Barbara

JoNightshade · May 30, 2008

angeliz2k said:
But I'm really bad at trimming down setences and paragraphs, and I do realize that a lot of scenes are unnecessary. I have a flashback chapter of maybe 2000 words that tells a little of the backstory of a character who is actually dead at that point in the story. It's a good scene and definitely fleshes him out . . . but he's a peripheral character who dies in the first chapter and the events don't really have any bearing on the rest of the story. This was, sadly, first on the chopping block.

If this is your issue, I would really recommend setting out some practice exercises for yourself. I actually have a job where I frequently have to fit a ton of content in the smallest space possible, so it's really honed my skills in terms of eliminating excess verbiage. (As you may notice from this paragraph, I'm naturally quite long-winded.) Applying this skill to my novels has really helped me streamline and simplify my prose. I recommend either taking a descriptive passage from something or just writing one yourself (say, describe your bedroom in detail) and then going word by word, seeing how short you can get it. You'd be surprised how much rephrasing cuts out. Most of the time you can cut waaaay down without losing the core meaning. For example:

I recommend getting some practice at cutting. At my job I have to fit a ton of content in a small space, which has honed my skills in eliminating excess verbiage. (As you may note, I'm long-winded.) Applying this to my novels helped me streamline my prose. Try taking a descriptive passage and see how short you can make it without losing the core meaning. You'd be surprised how much rephrasing cuts out. For example:

To practice cutting, take a descriptive passage and see how short you can make it.

t0neg0d · May 30, 2008

Out of curiosity (and this is complete curiosity--I prune like everyone else), why are you trimming your manuscript? It sounds like your doing it because there is some rule out there that says your book has to be less than 130k. If you love every word, why the hell would you cut it back?

Linda Adams · May 31, 2008

batgirl said:
I've hacked 18k out of my 130k draft so far. I'm thinking of saving all the deleted scenes and posting them as fanfic when/if this one gets published.
-Barbara

I think one of the published authors posts the deleted scenes on her Web site for her readers.

Willowmound · May 31, 2008

t0neg0d said:
Out of curiosity (and this is complete curiosity--I prune like everyone else), why are you trimming your manuscript? It sounds like your doing it because there is some rule out there that says your book has to be less than 130k. If you love every word, why the hell would you cut it back?

I'll let Aristotle deal with this one (from Poetica, ca. 335 BC):

[Fictional narrative must] represent one action, a complete whole, with its several incidents so closely connected that the transposal or withdrawal of any one of them will disjoin and dislocate the whole. For that which makes no perceptible difference by its presence or absence is no real part of the whole.

And this is why we prune. A flabby story is not a good story. You may love your words, but your readers won't if they don't matter...to the story.

t0neg0d · May 31, 2008

angeliz2k said:
What a terrible realization to look at my 130k WIP and realize that it really really should not be so long. I love every word, naturally, but I can see where it might be considered bloated.

It's painful to have to cut out huge chunks that I REALLY like. And it's just as painful to try to piece it all back together again!

Again I ask, why are you pruning? You say that you can see where it might be considered bloated. By whom? If it is not your opinion, why are you pruning it? Did you get feedback from someone? Or are you doing this for another reason?

Take a look at the Tolkien Thread. There was a discussion about unnecessary portions of the beginning of the book, some considered them unrelated to the story, while others were adamant on them being critical to giving you information concerning lore, etc, etc. Only reason I ask is, you must have felt these portions of the book relevant for one reason or the other. Consider it before you take the weed-whacker to it.

Also, consider pacing. If you were to prune every last portion of your book that you consider questionable, you might as well stuff a funnel down the throat of the reader and force-feed them a synopsis.

Willowmound · May 31, 2008

You should advise her to put in many more 2000-word backstories of a dead minor characters. No, go on.

KTC · May 31, 2008

This thread simply depresses me. I wish I just once had this problem. When I am finished my first draft I always have to find ways to bulk it up. I never had a first draft that went over about 65K. Sigh.

Shweta · May 31, 2008

t0neg0d said:
Again I ask, why are you pruning? You say that you can see where it might be considered bloated. By whom? If it is not your opinion, why are you pruning it? Did you get feedback from someone? Or are you doing this for another reason?

It's very difficult for a first-time author to sell something over 120K.

And loving every scene is a different thing from believing every scene to be necessary to the story.

Mythica · May 31, 2008

I have a couple things I do that cuts down a lot of words and makes the novel better. I reread descriptive paragraphs and I find that I sometimes use different words that mean the same thing. All the repetitive stuff I don't catch when I'm in the zombie writer mode. Also, I cut down on dialog a lot. Conversations that might drag a bit, that sort of thing.

MumblingSage · May 31, 2008

KTC said:
This thread simply depresses me. I wish I just once had this problem. When I am finished my first draft I always have to find ways to bulk it up. I never had a first draft that went over about 65K. Sigh.

I've never had a completed draft of anything that went over 30K.

But then, I've never really managed to finish a novel. They're constantly 'works in progress'.

angeliz2k · May 31, 2008

To those who have asked, there are two resons, really, that I want to trim. The practical one is that yes, it will be difficult to sell a 130k manuscript. But also, taking a good hard look after a few rejections, I realize that it is a little topheavy. It's a very intricate plot, so I might try to loosen it up some.

Mythica · May 31, 2008

Slightly off-topic, angeliz2k, but would your historical fiction be about Queen Boudicca? She was too cool. I'm only guessing because of the time and location

angeliz2k · Jun 1, 2008

Mythica said:
Slightly off-topic, angeliz2k, but would your historical fiction be about Queen Boudicca? She was too cool. I'm only guessing because of the time and location

Yay and nay. It's about her daughter(s) but she makes significant appearances throughout the first part of the book. You know, before she dies.

Willowmound · Jun 1, 2008

The ones who were raped and killed?

DeadlyAccurate · Jun 1, 2008

I'm perfectly satisfied to hit 75K for my first drafts. By the time the book's done, though, it's in the 90-100K range. I still end up cutting stuff, but I end up adding even more. The more rounds of edits I do, the easier it is to cut stuff that isn't working, even clever lines I really liked the first time around.

Pruning--trimming your WIP down

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