Writing is hard work

I know what you mean! I'm trying to get my manuscript down to a reasonable size (118k at the very, very, VERY least.) and I was one step away from pushing the thing aside and writing something else first. Something that I can keep within the word-limit guidelines.

I get what you mean about taking an axe to it, I've had to cut out most of my favorite parts just because they weren't "Wordcount friendly" enough.

Good luck with cutting your MMS down! :3

Sounds like you need to take a short break and come back to it refreshed. I finished the third book in a series a couple of weeks ago and I've returned to a couple of scripts I've written, just to get right away from it. During this week I'll return to it and enjoy the result of my editing.

Good luck.

I spent a lot of time working on a manuscript and trying to cut it down at one point, until my eyes were crossing. Went away from it for quite a long time, and then came back... What I discovered was that I'd worked too hard to trim words at the sentence level. When I backed off and considered the structural level, I was able to cut large sections that were tangential to the central conflict. On the other hand, another manuscript I have was about 350,000 words when I finished it. That one, I divided in three.

I'd say, take a step back and rest, work on something else for a while and then consider it again when you have a little distance. That might make a big difference.

Uncle Jim constantly says that after you're finished with your book, to put it in a drawer for six weeks and leave it alone, then go on to another book. After the six weeks are up, then you go back to it and do the added work of editing, cutting, slicing, dicing, tossing, and whatever else you can think of outside of throwing it across the room in a rage. The idea behind this is simple: to take a breather from the work.

Myself, I'm taking a week off at least before working on my edits of my "Heal The Wound" project, and in the mean time I have another work I'm developing. I'll likely take longer than just the week to let my wound scar over, so to speak. From this, I tend to agree with Uncle Jim that letting it sit for a long period of time can produce better results than getting back to it immediately.


Blessed Be, and I wish you all the best with your WIP.

I feel your pain. I'm up to eight on my WIP and I've just now realized I have a pretty glaring problem that I need to work on. I kinda feel like all the other edits were useless in a way.

But my WIP went from 76000 to 56000 with the need to expand on a few of the final scenes. I cut a crapload of bacstory and the story flows a lot better so I guess it wasn't a total waste of eight months...

I agree with the others. Take a break. I wrote another novel during my break. And it reminded me how much fun I had when I wrote the first one.

I read a blog the other day about this very subject.

The main advise was, if you're having trouble cutting your work down to a reasonable wordcount, don't write so many words to start with. You end up making more work for yourself trying to cut the thing down.

Seems the current trend is for lower WC novels.

First timers/never published, should stick to an 80,000 WC But as we all know, the story has to be told, and it takes what it takes to write.

Some of the Agents blogs I read said if they see too high a WC, they just toss the MS and move to the next.

A lot of new writers seem to overwrite (I definitely did with my first two books). Some of the wordcounts mentioned here would probably benefit from being cut down to 100,000 words at the most.

Shiz, that's right!

Oberon said:

I have read a lot of comments about how hard it is to write a novel. I have always enjoyed writing, found it fulfilling and ego-stroking. Now I have taken on the monumental task of trying to shape my first novel, Shaper into some possibly marketable form. (text omitted) ...

I am presently plowing my sixth furrow through this thing, and wishing I could just toss it. Last count, 122k. ( some text omitted here in quote) It's hard to keep a keen eye on the development. One thing it does do, hopefully the big payoff: what the hell is this thing about, anyway? And how do we show what it's about?

I don't have a lifetime ahead of me, I'd like to get this out for rejection soon. I have two others to work on. Maybe this exercise with hone my skills, who knows?

Click to expand...

Oh, Oberon, how I relate - and laugh sympathetically with you!! I'm not young either and fear I shall pass before getting a novel published! Yet I persist, because like you, I'm obsessed now...later in life as it is, LOL.

From 145K to 122K is progress though!! Take heart. Like others here, I suggest you look at two main things:
* What the core of the story is & how much world-building you need to incorporate. Are ALL those details needed? Etc. Get feedback from crit grp, contests, a mentor, etc.
* Should it be a series? So many complex SF/F are exactly that. And the w/c is why. Just make sure ALL that w/c, counts.

My first novel is a loooong fantasy that needs re-working, too. Readers love the world and characters; the plot bombed. The third time thru a re-write, I finally figured out the THEME. Which will change the plot when & if I return to this ms.

So it is taking a rest while I work on other writing/non-writing projects. When I get back to that long fantasy, it will be with fresher vision. Or I will realize that, passion though it is, it was just that: a first book & for "practice."

Then again, some first books become landmarks.

Also consider this: most of the great works of SF/F took many years (most at least 10 yrs) to create. Take Tolkien, Asimov, Lewis, Gavriel-Kay. Being older, that's hard to hear -- I understand.

I figure I can write until I die, even if it's voice reg software or something as I sit in my rocker-recliner!

Oberon said:

I am presently plowing my sixth furrow through this thing, and wishing I could just toss it. Last count, 122k. I have attacked it with ax and bludgeon, wiping out whole sections, abandoning clever (I thought) inclusions. whittling it down to the core story, hoping I am not shaving it to death.

Click to expand...

Don't forget to tighten sentences. Almost any sentence can be streamlined.

Good luck.

BylinBree: Oh, Oberon, how I relate - and laugh sympathetically with you!! I'm not young either and fear I shall pass before getting a novel published! Yet I persist, because like you, I'm obsessed now...later in life as it is, LOL.
------------------------------
LOL. I'm in rather late, too.
But, I started on Historical Fiction, got so sick of researching after six yrs, that I dropped the ms. for a new YA story. Now, I'm really inspired an writing every day. Maybe that's all it takes––fresh perspective.

Welcome to the salt mines

Yes it is. For me, it's more difficult to get to those huge word counts than it is to cut them out. I'm a long-time short story writer and long accustomed to brevity. Good luck.

Give the story time to breath. Once you have some distance you can see what is and what isn't working. Stop working on this WIP and move on to another project. Come back after the first WIP so you can see it clearly. Or get some Betas and have them give you comments about where you are slow, what's not necessary and the like.

My advice is, stick it in the drawer for a week or two. Go for a walk, have some coffee, reconnect with those strange lifeforms collectively known as friends and family. Feed the dog/cat/elephant before it eats you. Start something new.

Then come back and take an axe to your story. And congrats on reaching this stage of the process!

I actually love editing my work. I love finding better ways to say something, I love losing crappy adverbs, and I love chopping slow and superfluous chapters. It's the knowledge that each time I do that, I'm making it a whole lot better. Seriously....from 1st draft to 2nd draft can improve something several 100 percent. 2nd to third and the return starts to diminish, yet....it's still infinitely rewarding to pluck out a clunky sentence or laboured metaphor and know that no editor/agent/snarky critic is ever going to see that boo boo.