Ever since finishing the first draft of my latest novel, I've been taking it easy. I've caught up on some reading, and I've been helping out a few friends with writing of their own, in addition to doing what I could for my new daughter. However, it's time I got back to the whole writing professionally thing, and I've moved on by beginning to revise a novel I finished a year ago - Wrongful Death.
In the past couple of days, I started the first revision. Wrongful Death came in at 67,842 words, and based on my previous editing forays, I figured I'd be cutting at least 13,000 words out of it. However, something interesting has become apparent while I edit - I'm writing much more efficiently.
What I mean by that is that there are fewer extraneous words in Wrongful Death than there were in either Salvation Day or Akeldama. At first I thought that this was me simply being rusty at seeing extraneous words, so I went back through with a fine tooth comb. That was when I found that I just wasn't using the extra adjectives and adverbs as much as I used to.
I'm wondering if this was a one time deal, or if I've really become more efficient. While writing, I intentionally allow the words to flow freely and not try to edit as I put down my prose(it was maddening the few times I caught myself doing that). However, it appears I've been subconsciously editing as I write and keeping the points short. I like this development - it makes me feel like I'm growing as a writer - and I'm curious to see if the phenomenon continues with Schism.
I'm averaging four chapters a day on the first round, so I hope to be finished with the initial cut by this time next week. At that point, Wrongful Death will go back into a drawer for at least another month so I can look at it with fresh eyes yet again.
The best thing about editing something a year after its completion - a year in which I haven't even looked at it - is that it feels like picking up a copy of an old book I used to enjoy and remembering why I liked it. The story of Christian Gettis still fascinates me, and I'm getting a thrill finding the nuances in the novel I'd forgotten about. Sure, some of this sounds very self-congratulatory, but I'm having fun. As I've said, I write stories I enjoy and hope other people will come along for the ride. It's nice to see I still like this one, and I think others will as well.
(What would you cut out of this?)
First of all, I've decided to keep the title. I thought about going to something new when I discovered a Robert Dugoni novel of the same name, but I then found out Dugoni wasn't the only one who used it. Since it's the strongest title I have, encompassing so much of what the book is about, I'm sticking with it.In the past couple of days, I started the first revision. Wrongful Death came in at 67,842 words, and based on my previous editing forays, I figured I'd be cutting at least 13,000 words out of it. However, something interesting has become apparent while I edit - I'm writing much more efficiently.
What I mean by that is that there are fewer extraneous words in Wrongful Death than there were in either Salvation Day or Akeldama. At first I thought that this was me simply being rusty at seeing extraneous words, so I went back through with a fine tooth comb. That was when I found that I just wasn't using the extra adjectives and adverbs as much as I used to.
I'm wondering if this was a one time deal, or if I've really become more efficient. While writing, I intentionally allow the words to flow freely and not try to edit as I put down my prose(it was maddening the few times I caught myself doing that). However, it appears I've been subconsciously editing as I write and keeping the points short. I like this development - it makes me feel like I'm growing as a writer - and I'm curious to see if the phenomenon continues with Schism.
I'm averaging four chapters a day on the first round, so I hope to be finished with the initial cut by this time next week. At that point, Wrongful Death will go back into a drawer for at least another month so I can look at it with fresh eyes yet again.
The best thing about editing something a year after its completion - a year in which I haven't even looked at it - is that it feels like picking up a copy of an old book I used to enjoy and remembering why I liked it. The story of Christian Gettis still fascinates me, and I'm getting a thrill finding the nuances in the novel I'd forgotten about. Sure, some of this sounds very self-congratulatory, but I'm having fun. As I've said, I write stories I enjoy and hope other people will come along for the ride. It's nice to see I still like this one, and I think others will as well.
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