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| Photo: SerenityRose on Flickr |
However, the reductions do not have to be painful, and sometimes they can even be relatively simple. And so I would like to share five easy to make cuts without feeling too much pain.
- suddenly. "Jimmy crawled around the corner, and then, suddenly:" aaaaand stop there. is suddenly one of those words we have been deceived into believing are useful. When we write "suddenly," we try to convey to our readers that whatever happens next came without warning, but there has already warned your readers just a problem that you associate.
Each time you use the word "suddenly" you're basically shooting yourself in the foot. "I suddenly felt sick," for example, removes the suddenness of nausea, because your readers read "suddenly" and knew that something was going to happen. "Suddenly" does not tell readers not to expect anything, it does the opposite-it warned readers that something is about to happen. And it is not very sudden, is it? - Very, very, etc. They are often disposable words. I would say 7/10 time you use "very" or "extremely", you can probably replace it with a single word that is more powerful and effective. "Very large" for example, could be "massive." "Really slow" could be "lazy-like." Etc. etc.
There is one exception. Sometimes words like "very "and" really "are used to accentuate a voice, especially with younger characters. for example, while" fast "can almost always be changed to" quickly "but" marine "can not be better than" very blue "if your character POV is not likely to say" navy. " - Filter sentences. If you have not read post on Chuck Palaniuk the "thought" verbs , you need to do now . I'll wait. Go read . I mean.
have you read that? I hope so, because I can not begin to tell you how incredibly useful it is. Filter sentences are fine for the first draft, but when it comes to editing, it's time to remove them and replace them with something more powerful.
If you not read, filter expressions are phrases like "he thought" "she wonders" "I knew" "he felt" "it saw "" I felt "so the problem with them is that they add an extra filter layer, which repels readers of the story.
for example," I smelled freshly baking cinnamon rolls "could be changed to" the sweet smell of cinnamon and fresh enamel was so thick in the air, I could almost taste it. " By showing us what the character is Feeling rather than say us what he / she is a smell, imaging becomes more powerful, almost as if readers know them -Same.
Yes, it can be a bit tedious to go through your manuscript and remove them, but I highly recommend you do. It will definitely make your job much stronger. - I, do, do, do, etc. This is a super easy. Often writers, especially in the dialogue, I saw forget their contractions. Phrases like "No, Jim, I do not think I'll go to that party" sounds immediately uptight just because the contractions were forgotten. "No, Jim, I do not think I'll go to that party" sounds much more fluid, yes? (The answer is yes.)
It is an easy mistake, and you certainly do change all of them to include contractions (in actually, depending on your voice and the voices of the characters, you can only change a couple), but it is definitely something to keep in mind because changing a few can really add to the flow. - unnecessary scenes. this one is a little trickier, but 9/10 times I see a plot that slip, it is because of this little sucker evil.
Each scene must have a purpose. Every. Single. one. If you can not go through each of your scenes and identify the object (eg, character development, plot development, foreshadowing, etc.), then chances are it does not need to be there. Another great way to find out is to imagine what would happen if you removed your story-would still make sense? If your book could function without the scene, then chances are you probably do not need.
What other easy cuts can you think when editing?
Twitter sized bites:
Prepare to submit your MS? Writer @Ava_Jae sharing five easy cuts, you may want to do first. (Click to tweet)
Why suddenly is not sudden, filter expressions are bad, and other tips editing of @Ava_Jae writer. (Click for tweeter)
