tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post2212174109822686788..comments2024-03-27T10:02:56.747-04:00Comments on Fiction University: Kill What? What to Do When You Need to Cut a Major Part of Your NovelJanice Hardyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-39036188034531412432014-11-18T06:28:57.516-05:002014-11-18T06:28:57.516-05:00Oh good! I love when that happens (the right artic...Oh good! I love when that happens (the right article finding the right writer, part). <br /><br />That sounds like a good plan. You save the work, and it gives you a head start on the next book. <br /><br />Feel free to give yourself permission when you need it :) Trust your instincts and do what you feel is the best thing for your story. That nagging little voice in our head is more often right than wrong. Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-80619530548563403802014-11-14T10:51:44.461-05:002014-11-14T10:51:44.461-05:00Oh, as usual, you are posting the exact thing I ne...Oh, as usual, you are posting the exact thing I need exactly when I need it! I have redone my novel and one of the most exciting things in it no longer fits. A whole race of people, a whole relationship, no longer fits now that I am clear what struggle my character has to go through. So I've been trying to find a way to still keep these people in, and I just can't see how. And I've done so much work developing them, their culture, their history, their religion, their politics, their family dynamics, everything. Just throw them away? <br /><br />So after reading this and then thinking a bit, I think I can include them in the current novel in only the role they need to play (only they can kill the dragons, so they HAVE to be in it), without spending as much time with them as I wanted to originally. AND I can write another novel in the same world (because I have spent so much time creating this world, I intend to write in it for, like, my whole life). Which makes it a little easier to let it go.<br /><br />But only a little.<br /><br />Thanks for the great post. I have a feeling it's something we already know when faced with it, but it helps to have an "official writer" give us permission to let it go. jenmcjenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04239531131388642925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-4431506059265031812012-07-26T21:09:52.918-04:002012-07-26T21:09:52.918-04:00I so identify with this. I've been working a n...I so identify with this. I've been working a novel and have changed the plot umpteen times because the awesome scene just didn't fit. One time it needed way more action. The characters needed more stress. Another time I was way too many "and then" moments. Boring. Great advice!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01899031495802835361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-74959344721416223672012-07-23T16:11:46.767-04:002012-07-23T16:11:46.767-04:00Kaitlin, good for you! Great way to recycle.
Cla...Kaitlin, good for you! Great way to recycle. <br /><br />Claude, we always know. I've learned to trust my gut, and even with this one I let it go father than I should have.Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-88347505425222036462012-07-20T10:07:23.606-04:002012-07-20T10:07:23.606-04:00Very useful advice, Janice, many thanks! I think c...Very useful advice, Janice, many thanks! I think cutting back our novels is something most of us have to do at some point or another. I certainly need to do that (I've even got a book out, published on Amazon, that is crying out to me to take it down and cut it back...which I plan to do asap!).<br />And yes, you're right, one has the feeling suddenly that the plot has taken a wrong direction, that another story has intruded and it needs to be trimmed out (and saved for another use of course). it's more of a feeling than a certainty, which is why it's so hard to take a decision and go ahead and cut!Claude Forthommehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03871790739257823515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-17605356076956535012012-07-20T00:06:30.995-04:002012-07-20T00:06:30.995-04:00Oh oh oh. I had to do this a week or so ago. I c...Oh oh oh. I had to do this a week or so ago. I cut some 50 pages and rewrote them completely. It hurt so bad. But what i did was preserved a lot of extraneous stuff and I'll use it for it's own side story. That way it isn't totally lost, but it isn't gumming up the works, either. Great post!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-56791076480265260642012-07-17T07:38:06.824-04:002012-07-17T07:38:06.824-04:00Elizabeth, that's my Plan B :) I like testing ...Elizabeth, that's my Plan B :) I like testing the twist in the midpoint. Another good spot for a big moment.<br /><br />Angelica, ooo that's a real toughie, sorry to hear that. If it's just the tone, maybe it won't be so bad to revise. It's not "cutting" so much as rewriting? Good luck with it!<br /><br />LD, that describes my first novel perfectly, so I feel the pain. That's great that you figured out how to make it all work before it drove you crazy.<br /><br />Amelia, most welcome!<br /><br />Marcie, save your original file so you have it, then cut away. You'll probably end up delighted and wondering why you were ever scared to do it :) And if not, then you still have that original draft to go back to.<br /><br />Carradee, you can certainly do that as well. There's no one option for anything in writing. Shifting characters like that is a great way to hold onto them and still get them out of the way if they aren't working for one book. <br /><br />EP, I've cut things because I couldn't remember why I did them, so yes, I think it can be. If you can't see why they matter when you read it, that's another red flag they might not be needed. Maybe try looking at ways to make the stuff you and your beta readers loved fit with Perm 2? It'll probably take some tweaking, but now that you have both versions maybe there's a middle ground there that does work. <br /><br />Jo, indeed. Those "saved cut scene" files are great for that.Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-2062065466095871592012-07-13T19:35:23.774-04:002012-07-13T19:35:23.774-04:00It's easier to cut an element from your work i...It's easier to cut an element from your work if you consider it to be 'relocating your darling' rather than straight out 'killing'. <br /><br />Besides, nothing's ever wasted in writing... that awesome plot element could be used elsewhere....where its awesomeness is appreciated.Jo-Ann Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18027989147411624378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-65482498486406283152012-07-13T15:16:36.255-04:002012-07-13T15:16:36.255-04:00Great things to consider. I'm working on somet...Great things to consider. I'm working on something where I added a huge bunch of complications. Part of me feels that it works; the other part can't remember why I added the complications in the first place. I wonder if not remembering why you did something in the first place might also be a consideration for cutting or changing something as well.<br /><br />I do know, that I had cut a whole bunch of stuff I loved, previously, that other people loved as well, but absolutely didn't fit with this second permutation...<br /><br />This might explain why I still haven't finished it. So many options!Eva Porterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14855603175280772481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-50645693754522721752012-07-13T12:19:42.121-04:002012-07-13T12:19:42.121-04:00What about the option to take the disconnected eve...What about the option to take the disconnected event out, set it aside, and use it to write a new story?<br /><br />Then, if you fix the original and have that new story, you then have <em>two</em> stories.<br /><br />I know I play with different permutations of different character types in my stories. And then there's how the traditional fantasy and urban fantasy series actually end up having some comparable characters—like each one has a cat shapeshifter, an accidental murderess, a lunatic, someone freakishly hard to kill, and someone who's prone to mental breakdowns. (…Actually, all those got tossed into one character, in my traditional fantasy stories.)<br /><br />Anyway, my one urban fantasy series is actually my <em>second</em> one started (but first with a novel done), because I came up with the novel's MC and some "cool" scenes, realized she wouldn't fit in the one UF world, and therefore made another one that would let her exist. :)Carradeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05431561739001270522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-54562656478598213032012-07-13T12:02:31.376-04:002012-07-13T12:02:31.376-04:00Thanks Janice and commentors. I'm struggling w...Thanks Janice and commentors. I'm struggling with this myself right now. I know I have to cut a large chunk from the first draft, since the rest of the story has changed drastically in revision. I just don't want to *sigh*Marciehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356680400626368632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-70812622166418607582012-07-13T11:30:31.061-04:002012-07-13T11:30:31.061-04:00Needed this now. Thanks so much!!!Needed this now. Thanks so much!!!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14324491231695823916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-69719732232827408602012-07-13T11:07:38.366-04:002012-07-13T11:07:38.366-04:00I wrote a lovely little story once that unfortunat...I wrote a lovely little story once that unfortunately topped the scales at 150,000 words. Started trying to trim it but I was ending up with holes in the plot. Then I realized I had too many story lines mixed together. I separated them out and set some aside for a totally different book (just need some different characters). Rewriting the remaining lines. Works much better this way.LD Mastersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01202135756299574972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-83049717036861276912012-07-13T10:02:12.953-04:002012-07-13T10:02:12.953-04:00I'm faced with that now--my book had a split p...I'm faced with that now--my book had a split personality in the tone. Both halves were great writing (even agents said so) but never the twain shall fit. I've had enough time away that it won't hurt quite so much to cut it, but it's still hard enough.Angelica R. Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09448717076699744259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-63841057292420142132012-07-13T09:21:26.573-04:002012-07-13T09:21:26.573-04:00What to do when a major part isn't working?
C...What to do when a major part isn't working?<br /><br />Curl in the fetal position and cry. Then eat lots of ice cream and spend time in denial...<br /><br />Oh, you mean HELPFUL things. :D Because that's what I normally do. <br /><br />This is a great list. Normally it's the big twist that doesn't work for me, and I have to move it up to the midpoint or sooner. This is a great guide!Elizabeth Poolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03214706118828699708noreply@blogger.com