What's the most you've ever discarded after reading your draft?

Shades of Humanity · Dec 30, 2006

I recently dusted off one of my MS after about 6 months of having it shelved and read through it. I was shamelessly giddy through several parts because I had forgotten a lot of it and enjoyed reading it.

However, there was a LOT of boring parts that really dragged the story down without progressing the plot. So I put on my Cloak of Humility, took a deep breath and began cutting and cleaving.

I'm about 15,000 words shorter now. With plotlines that are not connected. And complete characters gone.

*sob*

Has anyone else experienced this? How did you persevere?

scarletpeaches · Dec 30, 2006

I'll see your 15k and raise you another 110,000.

From 200,000 down to 75,000. The 200k was handwritten and took me six months. The 75k was done on a computer and took me just as long!

This was my trunk novel, done years ago. I've never cut out so much from a book before...even I couldn't write 125k words of crap in the same novel any more. I think I'd lose the will to live.

blacbird · Dec 30, 2006

All of it.

More than once.

More to come, probably, too.

caw

Azure Skye · Dec 30, 2006

The first draft of my middle-grade came in at about 58,000 words. I kept about 10-15% of that and wrote the second draft. I lost two characters, one I hated because she was a biotch but I'm bringing her back in the second story because I hate her and she's a biotch.

The story is much better for it.

kwwriter · Dec 30, 2006

Early in my writing I recieved a request from Amy Berkower of Writers House. She read my manu and told me it was 215 pages over written. After the initial shock, I re-read, cut without mercy and the manu was so improved I haven't had a second thought of ever cutting again.

Stacia Kane · Dec 30, 2006

I cut about 7k from my latest, and that's before the first edit--it just didn't work, and I finally skipped it and wrote the rest, then went back, took it all out, and rewrote it.

I plan to do my first read-through next week.

greglondon · Dec 30, 2006

first draft was 350 pages.
Second draft lost 70 of the first 80 pages.
(about 10 pages got saved and re-integrated later.)

Higgins · Dec 30, 2006

Oh sure

Shades of Humanity said:
I recently dusted off one of my MS after about 6 months of having it shelved and read through it. I was shamelessly giddy through several parts because I had forgotten a lot of it and enjoyed reading it.

However, there was a LOT of boring parts that really dragged the story down without progressing the plot. So I put on my Cloak of Humility, took a deep breath and began cutting and cleaving.

I'm about 15,000 words shorter now. With plotlines that are not connected. And complete characters gone.

*sob*

Has anyone else experienced this? How did you persevere?

Yeah...it can be fun. Sometimes you can tell how much you (at least) like a story by the number of times you've thrown out half of it.

Flapdoodle · Dec 30, 2006

Shades of Humanity said:
I recently dusted off one of my MS after about 6 months of having it shelved and read through it. I was shamelessly giddy through several parts because I had forgotten a lot of it and enjoyed reading it.

However, there was a LOT of boring parts that really dragged the story down without progressing the plot. So I put on my Cloak of Humility, took a deep breath and began cutting and cleaving.

I'm about 15,000 words shorter now. With plotlines that are not connected. And complete characters gone.

*sob*

Has anyone else experienced this? How did you persevere?

A complete 36,000 word novella.
A mess. Ditched the whole lot.

PeeDee · Dec 30, 2006

My first drafts tend to lose a handful of scenes, particularly toward the beginning, but they tend to gain more scenes. Usually, I wind up adding rather than subtracting. I write a tight story, but sometimes I write it a little too tightly and I need to loosen the string a bit.

SirTimberWolf · Dec 30, 2006

This is going to sound kind of 'out there' maybe but after I gave up on my first draft (516 pages, 10 pt currier) I rested a couple months and started over. . . Draft 2 (finished! yay) spanned about 419 pages (same font) and so far I've cut about 40 pages out of it. . . as of right now draft three is 150 pages but I'm not done yet.

All told, probably a good 400k words or so >_> The story is so much better for it though.

rugcat · Dec 30, 2006

I cut 20,000 words and added 30,000. Different ones, different plot direction.

janetbellinger · Dec 30, 2006

I've done that too.

blacbird said:
All of it.

More than once.

More to come, probably, too.

caw

imagoodgurl4 · Dec 30, 2006

All of it. It was crap. I had to start over from scratch and it's amazing how much the same idea has evolved since throwing it all out. I'm still working on it, but I find it much more exciting than my previous attempt, so I can't complain.

flannelberry · Dec 30, 2006

I've done an all of it. Maybe there's an odd scene or two but yeah... it sucks but it's also so much better.

214K last word count.

Mind you, it's amazing how easy it gets the more you do it....

scarletpeaches · Dec 30, 2006

How true. I've binned an entire book before. 288 pages, handwritten. Works out at about 85-90k words, something like that. I have the story in my head so I may go back to it someday, but it was...ugh. Weak storyline, pantomime characters, bad sex...

No, wait, was that my life story I'm talking about? No, no, definitely a novel.

blacbird · Dec 30, 2006

flannelberry said:
Mind you, it's amazing how easy it gets the more you do it....

I used to think that, too.

caw

steveg144 · Dec 31, 2006

My first draft was 94K of total crap. My second draft wound up being 73K of the best part of the crap. For a net loss of 21K words. :tongue

Maryn · Dec 31, 2006

blacbird said:
All of it.

More than once.

More to come, probably, too.

caw

Same here, except for the 'caw.'

Maryn, seriously flawed

anavicenteferreira · Dec 31, 2006

It seems like I'm in a minority here. I generally have to add padding to my manuscripts. Generally, my first drafts are around 70/75K and after revision I end up with something between 80K and 90K.

I tend to put down the story first, without worrying to much about things like description and such, and afterwards, I'll add on a few details, and sometimes even a couple of scenes if i find that one or more of the characters need added depth, or that some trasition in action or character development isn't clear enough.

thethinker42 · Dec 31, 2006

I spent about 2 months working on my third draft of my fantasy novel. I always print the manuscript out at about the 1/3 and 2/3 points so I can give it a once-over. Well, I printed this one at the 1/3 mark...read it...thought about it....and trashed the whole bleeding thing. 40,000 words. The 1st draft was 110,000 words, 2nd draft was 130,000...both times, I've read them two or three times, and then said, "This is crap! I'm going to redo the ENTIRE plotline". So, for this book, I've easily thrown out 280,000 words.

So...now I'm working on draft 3.5. Hopefully it won't suck this time.

maestrowork · Dec 31, 2006

About 15,000 words out of 95,000. So that's about 16%. Mostly from the top.

ChaosTitan · Dec 31, 2006

Wow, my earliest novels have gone through too many revisions to remember how much has been cut or added or put back in after second and third thoughts. I probably trim anywhere from 10-20 percent from the first draft, but something new always gets added to pick up some of the slack. My own drafts are somewhat lean. Drafts of my two co-written novels are...ah...on the chubby side.

icerose · Dec 31, 2006

The whole thing, 110,000K

Alex Bravo · Dec 31, 2006

The whole thing 110,000, twice. Now its 113,000. For my last major revision I cut the first 7,000 words and hope to reuse them, the scenes, for the start of the sequel.

What's the most you've ever discarded after reading your draft?

Shades of Humanity

scarletpeaches

blacbird

Azure Skye

Huh?

kwwriter

let's not be cute about it

Stacia Kane

Girl Detective

greglondon

Planet Wookie techno geek

Higgins

Flapdoodle

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

SirTimberWolf

Hiding between the covers.

rugcat

Lost in the Fog

janetbellinger

imagoodgurl4

Attack!

flannelberry

scarletpeaches

blacbird

steveg144

Crusty Polemicist

Maryn

Not Any More

anavicenteferreira

thethinker42

Abnormal Romance Author

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

ChaosTitan

Around

icerose

Lost in School Work

Alex Bravo