or, What Might Look Like a Drain on Productivity is Actually Proof of Productivity - Writers are like hoarders - we hate cutting words. *This* makes it easier...
Well, maybe we can't be sure 100% words don't have consciousness. That's why we create nice little Word docs of orphaned words where they can live out their best lives.
Now, if we can just find a way to add rocks to those Word docs. Or, maybe just a coral out back? (I suspect though that the rocks you put back down are happy there, which is why they are there in the first place! A nice, big lake to look at...)
I write a lot of short stories and publishers often impose a word count, it can be painful: cutting 1000 words from a 5K story without losing the thread/atmosphere is a challenge, but it's also a good exercise. Write tighter, remove the fluff. I don't regret these "wasted words". In a book, it's different. Many publishers also impose word counts these days (cost of printing). Cutting a 90k to 75 can feel more like butchery than surgery. It can mean dropping scenes or a character. I satisfy my hoarder instincts by creating a "cut file" ... you know, just in case I can reuse in something else? The irony is that I seldom go back to the "cut file".
I've often cut things to word count and realized that hey, it just doesn't work that short. If it's day-job article writing, I can sometimes create two articles or a sidebar article. Often, it's like you say -- I have to take out the equivalent of a character or scene. Then, the challenge moves from "how can I tell this story in X number of words?" (I can't...) to "*what* story can I tell in X number of words?"
As I just mentioned in my reply to Mary's comment, I used to have a cut file as well, and never looked at it. Now I just hit delete. (Though, in many cases, those words live on in earlier drafts...)
I love cutting words, phrases, sentences, whole paragraphs- the more the better. I can physically see the words on the page tightening and I love it. This attitude comes from my love of and focus on Japanese poetry. Those “wasted” words of my memoir will often become part of a haibun or a haiku. So I guess I recycle rather than eliminate.
Well *that's* a healthy attitude to trimming word count! I feel very much the same.
And oh, I wholly support recycling, if it helps! I used to do that, but then I felt like I was hoarding leftover words... lol Nothing wrong with that per se, but it wasn't useful for me. They ended up in a scrap-heap document never to be looked at again. Now, I cut out the middle man... lol
But hey, if you can turn them into a haibun, all the better!
Ps I like the analogy of “construction lines” or supports
Yeah -- I like his take on it! Probably not something I would have thought of, but it works!
“Words aren’t really alive. They don’t have consciousness. They won’t feel bad if they get left behind, physically, mentally, or emotionally”
Are we sure tho (says the writer who picks up rocks in a beach and has trouble putting them down again) 😆
Well, maybe we can't be sure 100% words don't have consciousness. That's why we create nice little Word docs of orphaned words where they can live out their best lives.
Now, if we can just find a way to add rocks to those Word docs. Or, maybe just a coral out back? (I suspect though that the rocks you put back down are happy there, which is why they are there in the first place! A nice, big lake to look at...)
😆
I write a lot of short stories and publishers often impose a word count, it can be painful: cutting 1000 words from a 5K story without losing the thread/atmosphere is a challenge, but it's also a good exercise. Write tighter, remove the fluff. I don't regret these "wasted words". In a book, it's different. Many publishers also impose word counts these days (cost of printing). Cutting a 90k to 75 can feel more like butchery than surgery. It can mean dropping scenes or a character. I satisfy my hoarder instincts by creating a "cut file" ... you know, just in case I can reuse in something else? The irony is that I seldom go back to the "cut file".
I've often cut things to word count and realized that hey, it just doesn't work that short. If it's day-job article writing, I can sometimes create two articles or a sidebar article. Often, it's like you say -- I have to take out the equivalent of a character or scene. Then, the challenge moves from "how can I tell this story in X number of words?" (I can't...) to "*what* story can I tell in X number of words?"
As I just mentioned in my reply to Mary's comment, I used to have a cut file as well, and never looked at it. Now I just hit delete. (Though, in many cases, those words live on in earlier drafts...)
Oh, these tricks we have to play on ourselves!
I also like to say that a story is the length it needs to be, which may sound contradictory, lol. But yes, sometimes the words ARE needed.
I agree!
I love cutting words, phrases, sentences, whole paragraphs- the more the better. I can physically see the words on the page tightening and I love it. This attitude comes from my love of and focus on Japanese poetry. Those “wasted” words of my memoir will often become part of a haibun or a haiku. So I guess I recycle rather than eliminate.
Well *that's* a healthy attitude to trimming word count! I feel very much the same.
And oh, I wholly support recycling, if it helps! I used to do that, but then I felt like I was hoarding leftover words... lol Nothing wrong with that per se, but it wasn't useful for me. They ended up in a scrap-heap document never to be looked at again. Now, I cut out the middle man... lol
But hey, if you can turn them into a haibun, all the better!