04 February 2011

Progress? Yes… and No

So far this week I’ve stripped out all the notes and scenes that I don’t think I need for the final book. There was 5,000 words worth of them. It was very satisfying to delete notes I’d made where the issue has been resolved. For example: ‘what are her motivations for doing this?’, ‘how do they forge a connection?’, and ‘Should this character be present in this scene?’

I'm still left with 8,000 words of extra notes. And these are other bigger things that will take me ages to incorporate into the MS, like ‘make the setting a stronger part of the book’ or ‘don’t forget that character from the beginning’ or ‘give so and so a better/bigger personality’.

Then there’s alternate ideas I had for scenes, that still might work better than what I’ve got… but maybe not. I’ve got pithy little paragraphs describing my characters opinions or state of mind that may or may not improve the reader's experience. They could just be fluff.

There’s extra stuff I could write, to make my characters more rounded or funnier, or to show other scenes which have been happening in the background that add realism or make the climax ultimately beefier… but the story does survive without them. Better to leave them out? *scratches head*

2 comments:

  1. I'm at the same spot that you are at! I love accomplishing the little goals I've set for myself because it makes me feel like I've actually done something. As to whether or not you should include the not-yet-written scenes, I guess it depends on whether you feel that your novel will be better with the scenes.

    Great post!

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  2. Thanks for your comment writergal - my very first on this blog! And for the follow too.

    It'll be fun to follow each other's progress as we get through this stage.

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