Word count marathon, day 3
Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 11:18 PM | Writer's Cramp Starting word count: 244,962
Ending word count after revising Chapters 24 through 26, 29, part of 30: 243,576
# words cut: 1,386
Now that I’m into the pages past where Cat and I have done editing already, there are bigger trims I can make. I still don’t know where the big, big cutting is going to happen. I jumped ahead from chapter 8 yesterday into the section starting around Chapter 24 because that section (that goes through Chapter 32) is where I’ve always thought the story could be tightened. It’s an intentional lull, but it lulls too much there. So.
Nonetheless, I know I’m not going to magically get my 150 pages out of those chapters; we’ll see what the rest of 30, 31, and 32 yield, then I have some more ideas where I can make some inroads. And then depending on the outcome of that, I’m going to have to consider removing plotlines and/or characters. I’m not against it, but it’s far more complicated and time-consuming in this particular story than a less intricately-plotted one.
As for my pitch paragraph…well. All I can say is thank the Universe, Eru, and The Great Pumpkin for wickedly awesome and talented Cat, because she is the reason I did not have a breakdown about my pitch this evening. In response to my email of OMG I AM FUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATE THIS IS NOT WORKING WHAT ARE WORDS AND WHY DO I HAVE RED INK RUNNING OUT MY EARS, she replied calmly and reasonably with an offer of help and sanity. So she wins all the prizes, as far as I’m concerned. And Karl Urban in a bow, obviously. (No seriously, that was our deal.)
book 1, process, word count in on writing, querying, revision
Reader Comments (2)
You are too sweet and you give me too much credit. But then, I'll take it, you know, for Karl!
I know you think that, but if you seriously knew how close I was to curling up in a fetal position, you'd take that credit. :)