WIP Wednesday: Cutting the Important Things
Posted by annastan on April 7th, 2010. Filed under: Craft, Resources, WIP.Just when I thought I was done revising one of my WIPs, the darn thing yanked me right back in. I know the new revisions will make the manuscript stronger, but I must admit I’ve been going a bit cross-eyed. That’s why it was so comforting to read this bit about revision in Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life:
The part you must jettison is not only the best-written part; it is also, oddly, that part which was to have been the very point. It is the original passage, the passage on which the rest was to hang, and from which you yourself drew the courage to begin…So it is that a writer writes many books. In each book, he intended several urgent and vivid points, many of which he sacrificed as the book’s form hardened.
Since I cut the first twenty pages of my WIP a few weeks ago, this excerpt really struck a chord with me. Those pages had been there from the very beginning and, I thought, were essential to the story. They were rooted in storytelling, which was supposed to be a huge theme in the book. It turns out, however, that as the book’s “form hardened” that theme wasn’t nearly as important as I thought it was going to be.
Dillard is right; you need to be willing to cut the very things that seem the most important to you, all in the name of making the book what it needs to be.
How are your WIPs coming along? Have you needed to make any painful cuts?
April 7th, 2010 at 6:20 am
I’m absolutely willing to make any cuts. Especially, if it will make the story stronger! Now I just need a magic wand to highlight the parts that could go!
April 7th, 2010 at 6:21 am
Had I really not become a follower yet? Geez. Sorry. Sometimes I forget. But yours is the second blog that I figured I’d followed but never had. Now I’m going to be checking all of them.
April 7th, 2010 at 8:50 am
Hi Anna:
Still revising the end of my novel, which I know is going to affect the rest of it. Especially the beginning. I have the feeling that my beginning is going to be cut as well.
It’s very hard to cut scenes and/or characters I like but like you said, once book’s form becomes more clear, you see that what you once had no longer applies and you need to make some tough decisions.
I have yet to read Dillard’s book. Must put it on my TBR list if you like it.
April 7th, 2010 at 9:31 am
Last week, I realized that my WIP started about 3 months too soon in the story’s timeline (it’s a historical/time travel novel). The climax in the story happens around the birth of Elizabeth I of England in September 1533. I had my time travelers there too early and the middle part of my story sagged because of it.
To tighten up the story, I had to rearrange the timeline, which meant cutting and moving scenes to fit the new “tighter” plot (more tension, more suspense, less time for my protag to get her mission accomplished).
Painful because there were parts I really liked, but necessary because the story as a whole wasn’t working as well as it should.
Great post! Thanks!
Lyn
http://lynsouth.com
April 7th, 2010 at 9:53 am
Well, since you ask…
But right now, I know I’m on the right track because I’m back to waking up at four in the morning thinking about it.
I’m still flying through my rough draft. I feel like it’s pouring out of me right now. Of course afterwards, I’ll have to go in with a scalpel and some scotch tape.
April 7th, 2010 at 9:59 am
Laura, you’re much braver than I am! That’s great that you’re willing to cut whatever is necessary. Oh and would you look at that – you’re my 100th follower. You’ve helped set some wheels in motion… (*mysterious smile*)
Karen, good luck revising your ending. If you do need to cut the beginning, I’ll be happy to send you some tissues.
I’m really enjoying Dillard’s book so far – it was exactly the kind of inspiration I needed.
Lisa, sounds like you’re doing great! I love when books are so loud in your head that they wake you up – I wish all WIPs came with that kind of excitement, but some seem quieter than others. Happy writing!
April 7th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Lyn, that sounds like a lot of work! But it also sounds like it’s going to make your WIP even better. Btw, I love time travel stories. Happy revising!