When it gets to that point where you've reached over your word count, how do you choose what stays or goes?
When self-publishing, more often than not, you tend to be self-editing as well. Even if you have friends that read it over for you, you yourself have to read through it to make sure everything is in order, right?
So you pretty much know by heart what's going on, just have to make sure it's laid out in a way that your reader does as well - Just because you see that scene perfectly and a certain way, doesn't mean someone else does, so descriptions are needed and the like. Those you'll always want to keep, as it really sets the atmosphere, but when does it become too much?
I myself am a stickler for detail, I pack as much of it in as possible without trying to go overboard. Setting a scene where it counts, not just where it counts. A radius effect, if you will.
You also have your 'info dumps', a term I didn't become familiar with till after interacting with others on Wattpad. Meaning a spot or section that doesn't really pertain to the story, or isn't needed - An overabundance of information.
That, I think, is something I have a habit of doing.
Although, at the same time, I like to think I worked it into the characters personalities themselves; their wandering minds or over-analyzing thinking.
Now some of those, I know, just as other authors do, can be cut as it isn't pertinent. We like to think that everything we write is essential, that everything is important and needed in the story, but I've come to realize that that isn't always true. When a friend had first told me that, I got quite upset with him, thinking that if it hadn't been important, I wouldn't have wrote it in. After a few times editing through, however, you come to realize what really is and isn't needed.
The hard part I will admit, is taking a scene out. Not in the actual having to work it out part, but in removing it in the first place. You get so used to seeing that part there, that taking it out is, and feels, foreign. Like a missing puzzle piece.
If it really isn't important though, it's just a phantom piece.
Taking out extra scenes can lower that high word count, but if you're like me, just one small scene isn't enough. Others will have to go as well. I've come to the conclusion though, that those scenes don't have to be outright deleted. From that first story version, yes - but you can always make an 'uncut' version for later release, that has all those deleted scenes still in place.
It will require multiple saved versions of the story, sure, but you should already have those as back-ups in case something were to happen. Something happening to your computer/hard-drive/thumb-drive, someone else trying to claim your work as their own(Time stamps are a wonderful thing), corrupted files, the list goes on. Can't stress backing up your work enough on multiple platforms, as then you know for sure you're covered - Or maybe that's just me being paranoid?
Commentaires