Writing Wrongs

January 22, 2006

It has been bugging me for a while, this word count thing. D. shares my word count woes and we were emailing back and forth today about what we need to cut in our respective manuscripts. Did you take a gander at the progress bar?

Generally, I don�t edit while writing the draft, or at least, I try not to. But the monstrous word count has been bugging me, to the point that it was hard to add to the story because it felt like the whole thing was this sprawling mass of words that was truly going nowhere. And that�s not a feeling that helps me write, oddly enough.

I do like what I�ve written. A moral/ethical dilemma, lots of angst, a damned if I do, damned if I don�t situation.

But. The segment and the few references I made to it in the story ran 13,300 words. I can easily write the synopsis without even mentioning these events. Huge problem. It�s almost as though it could stand alone. Again, not a good sign.

So it�s gone, not to oblivion, but a deleted scenes file--you know, just in case. I�m still a little misty-eyed about it. Parts of it were pretty nifty. On the flipside, there�s a certain amount of relief, because there were parts I so didn�t want to revise.

Now it�s back to writing--and not feeling bad if I get a little expansive--and not running with scissors. It�s getting a little crowded on the cutting room floor.

Edited to add: You know, mom was right. When you run with scissors, you get hurt. D. wanted to see the �scene� before I cut it (it�s actually many, many scenes), so I uploaded the file with the scenes to a spot where she could get it, once her computer woes are over. And I made the mistake of reading it over, you know, to catch all those glaring typos.

Now I�m having serious second thoughts. I�m really hoping she�ll pat my head and say, �Nice try, but it�s good that you cut it.�

Really, really hoping.

Charity Tahmaseb wrote at 1:30 p.m.

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