I have a day off from the office and I’m trying to savage my final draft like a drunken barbarian. The Project One manuscript ended at nearly 190K words, and that’s an awful lot for many reasons. It’s a big investment for a reader, not to mention a publisher. It also sets a precedent for […]
While it can feel like extra work, removing unnecessary words will improve the manuscript and train your writing brain to use them less in your next story.
I used “now” throughout the manuscript, which is odd for a story occurring in the past. #amwriting #amediting #amwritingfantasy #thelostroyals
Sometimes, many words are preferable, even when a single one would suffice.
It’s the first day of a new year, which generally means resolutions and other pledges of life changes, blabbity-blah. This isn’t quite one of those.
As someone who’s reviewed thousands of pages, I know that many people are satisfied with their first draft.
Writing a post like this is great because it allows me to show the evolution of the writing, literally as I’m writing it. #thelostroyals
Some words were simply unnecessary; some made the sentence drag; and some were too passive.
I’d recently set a target of 3,000 to 4,000 words to keep the reading effort light, while also making it feel like the story kept moving. I was missing the mark.
My various lives (personal, work, writing) have been busy for the last couple months, so blogging took a back seat for a bit. However, while doing some writing over lunch, I was struck by an idea that led to this post. Many writers will tell you not to stop for proofreading or editing while you’re […]
The Lost Royals 