Killing my READER'S darlings??

LadyRedRover · Feb 24, 2020

Hey everyone! So, I have a bit of a weird problem.

I'm working on a middle-grade urban fantasy short story for my college's literary magazine. My previous Creative Writing teacher is in charge of the magazine and wants this specific story because her daughter loves it and they want it in print. Which is great! I've written several other stories in this world specifically for her daughter and I'm absolutely thrilled that they both love it so much.

However, right now I'm in the middle of edits and my story is 3,300 words, which is over the required 2,500 word limit. While looking for cuts, I noticed that the first scene takes place in a library. She talks to the librarian about entering an art contest and nothing is mentioned of it again until the end when it ties into an Emotional Moment/Theme. It's an okay scene, but takes up about a page and a half. Easy cut, right? Nope.

I've polled the teacher, the kid, and two completely unaffiliated beta readers and they all agree that scene, even though it's not obviously fantasy/super-relevant, is their favorite scene and they don't want it cut. Even after reading the updated version without that scene, they don't like it as well. I've tried to figure out how to integrate the scene, how to trim it, how to cut other parts of the story, and I keep coming back to that first scene not doing all that it could do in the overall story. With two weeks until the submission deadline, I'm not sure how to tackle this writing problem.

Any ideas on how I should proceed? Has this ever happened to anyone else? I'm thinking seriously about just cutting it and letting some other betas read it for the first time, but I also don't want to make a story less effective, if that scene is THAT important to my readers.... :/

Swipewrite · Feb 24, 2020

I think you should request direction from the editor/teacher if possible. Not having read it I dont think my opinion would be helpful (just cut it lol). You might find some benefit from having fresh eye on the work without the tentative cut included. The critiquing forums here might also be a good place to post the piece and get advice. best of luck and congratulations

VeryBigBeard · Feb 24, 2020

Having been on the other side of this (editorial), the word count is both an artificial limit to stop people sending behemoth entries and also a practical space thing. It's meant to be flexible, but it's also a guide for layout, so with these sorts of guidelines you sometimes do have to make cuts that might not make the story better, but might make it *fit*.

That said, given your connection to the prof who's in charge, maybe consult with her? If this story is partly a memento type thing, she might be in a position to make it work--there are all kinds of layout tricks. And if not, she's your prof and can help advise you where and how to cut.

LadyRedRover · Feb 28, 2020

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

I double-checked with my professor and she said that she could bump the limit a bit. She also said she felt the scene was important groundwork for the Emotional Moment. So far, I've cut 1000+ words, combined a few scenes, cut tons of excess dialogue, and I'm squeaking in under the word count.

I also talked to my readers and discovered the primary reason they enjoyed the scene was because of the librarian, who appears in other stories as a main character. Once I had that pinned down, I was able to shorten the scene to half a page, while still keeping his 'guest appearance' special+relevant. They are happy with the edit and like the story better because of it. I'm also really happy with the new, improved story. It's been tough working on edits and polishing it, but I feel really proud of myself and the work that went into it.

Juggernaut · Mar 10, 2020

LadyRedRover said:
Hey everyone! So, I have a bit of a weird problem.

I'm working on a middle-grade urban fantasy short story for my college's literary magazine. My previous Creative Writing teacher is in charge of the magazine and wants this specific story because her daughter loves it and they want it in print. Which is great! I've written several other stories in this world specifically for her daughter and I'm absolutely thrilled that they both love it so much.

However, right now I'm in the middle of edits and my story is 3,300 words, which is over the required 2,500 word limit. While looking for cuts, I noticed that the first scene takes place in a library. She talks to the librarian about entering an art contest and nothing is mentioned of it again until the end when it ties into an Emotional Moment/Theme. It's an okay scene, but takes up about a page and a half. Easy cut, right? Nope.

I've polled the teacher, the kid, and two completely unaffiliated beta readers and they all agree that scene, even though it's not obviously fantasy/super-relevant, is their favorite scene and they don't want it cut. Even after reading the updated version without that scene, they don't like it as well. I've tried to figure out how to integrate the scene, how to trim it, how to cut other parts of the story, and I keep coming back to that first scene not doing all that it could do in the overall story. With two weeks until the submission deadline, I'm not sure how to tackle this writing problem.

Any ideas on how I should proceed? Has this ever happened to anyone else? I'm thinking seriously about just cutting it and letting some other betas read it for the first time, but I also don't want to make a story less effective, if that scene is THAT important to my readers.... :/

Can you make it a 2 part story instead of one? This way you could keep everything you want.

Roxxsmom · Mar 10, 2020

VeryBigBeard said:
Having been on the other side of this (editorial), the word count is both an artificial limit to stop people sending behemoth entries and also a practical space thing. It's meant to be flexible, but it's also a guide for layout, so with these sorts of guidelines you sometimes do have to make cuts that might not make the story better, but might make it *fit*.

That said, given your connection to the prof who's in charge, maybe consult with her? If this story is partly a memento type thing, she might be in a position to make it work--there are all kinds of layout tricks. And if not, she's your prof and can help advise you where and how to cut.

I think the word counts are a lot firmer with books intended for young children, though. Literary magazines and other publishers of short fiction also tend to have very firm word count restrictions.

I'm glad the OP found a workable solution! Even in kids' stories, it appears, cameos are popular.

VeryBigBeard · Mar 11, 2020

Roxxsmom said:
I think the word counts are a lot firmer with books intended for young children, though. Literary magazines and other publishers of short fiction also tend to have very firm word count restrictions.

I'm glad the OP found a workable solution! Even in kids' stories, it appears, cameos are popular.

It's kind of a flexibility/planning thing.

If you know you've commissioned Such and Such from Big N. Author (and you know he's going to come in over word count because he always does), and you know you've sold 8 pages of ads for this issue, and that your editor needs 1.5 pages for self-indulgent blither, things start to get tighter.

Then you have the budget for, say, 6-8 more stories at 4c/word. So you carve up your remaining pages (at roughly X words/page depending on the size of your mag and layout technicalities) and figure out a ballpark word count. You might also have data or expertise that suggests stories of X length tend to get read more.

There's flexibility within that system--there has to be--but it's not there for authors to take advantage of. If an author don't follow sub guidelines, including word count, that author is creating practical problems, as well as being a tad unprofessional. Even if the story's good, it might be easier to go with something else. So submit to the word count.

This situation was a little different because of the personal connection and desires involved.

Killing my READER'S darlings??

LadyRedRover

Swipewrite

VeryBigBeard

Preparing for winter

LadyRedRover

Juggernaut

Roxxsmom

Beastly Fido

VeryBigBeard

Preparing for winter