I’m doing story surgery this week, starting with declaring some parts utterly dead and cutting them out for the good of the whole.
I have the core of an idea I love, I have replotted until I have a skeleton that hangs together and makes the right shape, but the words I wrote to get to that point are all on the chopping block.
It’s okay to throw out words that aren’t working, and it can be much easier to rewrite from scratch than to try to fix whole sections that are weak, wrong, or just broken. If the words are dead, bury ’em and get some live ones.
There are always more words. The only keepers should be the ones that bring the story to life. Everything else is dead weight and must go.
Having good bones is important. You’re absolutely right…it’s sometimes easier to start from scratch than to keep rewriting what’s not working. Good luck!
Thanks, NJ. It’s getting there!
I’m not dead yet. It’s just a flesh wound. 🙂
Have a great weekend.
Help, help, I’m being oppressed!
You, too. My weekend will revolve around kicking this story to the curb.