Archive for February, 2009

Why I Cut 75 Pages From My Manuscript

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

Yesterday, I deleted seventy-five pages of my manuscript-in-progress. Why did I do it?

Those 75 pages weren’t helping the story.

They may have been well written. They may have been enjoyable to read. They may have contained stunning lyrical prose or deep insights into the complexity of human nature.

But they weren’t helping the story.

Any serious writer needs to be able to viciously gut their work. Of course there are times when cutting pages isn’t appropriate, such as at the beginning of the story when you’re not sure what helps the story and what doesn’t, but there other are times when it is absolutely necessary.

No matter how much it hurts.

Many writers have trouble cutting their work, or even rewriting it. It is understandable. You work hard on that material. Often, you don’t see anything wrong with it. You may even really like it. It might contain your favorite passage, but you honestly have to ask yourself “is it helping the story?” If not, get rid of it.

The part I cut was the middle section, which was all about my main character adapting to a new situation and forming relationships with new characters. It was the section that was giving me writer’s block. While writing it, I kept thinking “this is interesting, and I like these people, but nothing is happening.” Nothing happening is bad for a story. I wrote through it anyway (at the expense of my blog) only to determine after having done so that the entire section was absurdly superfluous.

The pages I cut are not a waste however. I learned a lot about my world and characters in writing those pages. I have a better understanding of my characters’ motivations and how they relate to each other. This is great, because having written those pages will make the rewrite of that section both better and shorter. In fact, it may not have been possible to write this section correctly without having first written it incorrectly.

After discarding all 75 pages (yes, even the parts that I really liked), I re-outlined the story. It was amazing how much easier this was to do! I had struggled with the outline previously, but now have a much firmer grasp of what is important to the story. Outlining was a breeze the second time, and the story is much snappier.

Of course, I still hope some of the “choice” paragraphs in the 75 page dump will make it back into the story on the rewrite…

Interested in the story? Read my query letter-style synopsis

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Top Five Tips For Writers to Super Charge Their Productivity

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

Last post I wrote about the one and only proven way to beat writer’s block. This time I will share some tips as to how writers can super charge their productivity.

There are writers out there whose productivity absolutely astonishes the writing world. I won’t hazard to guess the secret of these individuals as I am sure they vary to some degree, but I can offer writers some general tips that are sure to increase productivity no matter who you are!

Many writers feel satisfied about writing at a snail’s pace. Some writers call it a success if they sneak in an “occasional” writer’s day. Others tell themselves they “can’t” do more than they’re doing. Chances are, you can do better–a lot better–even if you don’t have much time. For writers who are struggling, here is advice from an aspiring author:

1. Write every day

Write everyday. Not every weekend. Not every Wednesday. Not every day you have nothing else to do. Write EVERY DAY. Writers get good at their craft by writing, and just like any skill, it grows sharper with use and rustier when you are out of practice. It’s almost like a muscle, so think of it like training. The more you write the easier you will find writing and the better your writing will be. Over time, you will realize that you are also writing more and doing it faster.

2. Schedule a time and place to write

Everyone has their own writing process, but I find that I write best when I have scheduled a time and place to write and I obey that schedule. My ideal location is among other writers in an occupied but not overcrowded public place. Barring that, I’ll write by myself in a coffee shop. Barring that, I will write at home, but I will still schedule time to do it.

I don’t need a lot of scheduled time to write. I used to think I needed large chunks of uninterrupted hours to get any writing done. This is because it takes a bit of time to a hit a place I like to call “groove” in which I start to write fluidly and well. I still believe uninterrupted chunks of time help, but I have found that if I use ALL the tips in this blog post, I can get a surprising amount of real work accomplished in 30 minutes and sometimes less.

3. Kill distractions

I like to write in a public place because I find public places to be LESS distracting than being at home. If I am with other writers–not friends necessarily, but other people who are working–I am even more motivated. When I’m at home, I am often sitting on my couch within easy reach of the refrigerator, the TV remote, my bed, my phone, the mail, and a dozen other distracting things. However, it is different for different people. If a public place has too much going on for you, find a place where you can focus and get rid of anything that interrupts that focus. Seriously throw those things out of the room. It’s just you and the page! Most importantly? Kill the internet connection. Turn off your BlackBerry, iPhone, or other hand held mobile device. Despite what you may think, you really don’t need it, not even to do “research”.

4. Count the words you write each day

To keep yourself honest, you have to have a goal FOR EVERY WORK SESSION. It’s all well and good to want to finish a book or a scene or a script by a certain date, but how are you going to keep yourself productive during that hour or so that you have scehduled for writing?

Assuming you are on a first draft (revisions are a different process) word count is not a bad way to go. Remember that you can always revise later. In the meantime, keeping track of your word count is like making a scratch in the wall. If you write 500 words your first day, you can go for 700 your second, and a 1000 after that, and 2000 after that, etc. Or, conversely, you can try to hit the same number each day and then stop. When I did NanoWrimo in November 2008, I wrote the required 1700 words each day and didn’t push beyond that unless I knew I had a special engagement or something the next day that would cut into my productivity.

Don’t get caught up in whether or not what you are writing is “good.” No first draft is ever as “good” as it can be. Finish first. Worry about prettiness later.

5. Keep a calendar

When you make your daily writing goals, reward yourself. You can reward yourself any way you like of course, but one stimulating way to do this is to keep a writing calendar. For each day you actually sit down and get writing done, reward yourself by marking the day. You can draw a big X through it, color it in, outline it, write your word count in the space (that one is really helpful) or anything else you like. As you get some momentum going, you will really look forward to filling in the day because your calendar will become a pretty line of Xs, colors, word counts, etc. If you are a decorative or artsy-type person, you can also buy stickers for the days you write, or color them according to some kind of pattern. This method can be fun because you’ll think things like “today is purple; I really want to fill in a purple square.” The longer your unbroken line gets, the prettier the pattern and the less you will want to break it.

Remember, a successful writer is a prolific writer. Nobody wants to publish a one-hit wonder, and a faster, more productive writer has more time to write!

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