A fellow writer, Karmen Kooyers, sent me this quote (she didn’t say where she got it, but if anyone knows, please feel free to add it in the comments).
When revising, “Cut down to the bones, but leave the heart.”
I have to admit that cutting is way more fun than writing. I know that might sound like sacrilege, but so far it’s true. All you need is a certain amount of ruthlessness, and I guess I’ve spent my whole life preparing for this because I don’t like clutter. I throw out, give away, or recycle anything that I don’t have a need for and I always have. Now I’m just doing it with extra words!
P.S. If my editor or agent is reading this, I’d just like to say, Thanks for seeing the forest for the trees, because there sure are a lot of extra trees in this manuscript!
P.P.S. This post was longer, but I just cut a bunch of it!
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