Saturday, May 9, 2009

Tight Writing

All those clever phrases! All those beautiful, well-chosen words! Out they go--chop, chop.

I am cutting a short story down to fit the requirements of the market. The first draft was more like a novella. Now, I have to be ruthless. I delete unnecessary words, whole sentences, even. And then I click on the word count.

I am surprised at how much I can throw out and still keep the story. I find that I actually enjoy the process. It's a good exercise for "tight writing."

Till next time.
Peggy.

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