This Side of the Novel

I recently finished writing the first draft of my first “real” novel (as in one that I intend to try to publish). It’s technically a “novella”, not a novel. But all technicalities aside, it’s my book; it’s my story; and I’m genuinely excited about finally having the finished manuscript in my computer hard drive. This is the part of writing that I REALLY enjoy – the part where I sit back, peruse at leisure, edit as I want to. No pressure. No hassle. Just the completion of my work.

At least, that’s how it started out. That was before I realized that I wasn’t doing my job right. Or how I thought I was supposed to be doing my job right. If that’s confusing, allow me to clarify. Ahem…

One of the main corrections I constantly receive from other writers about my writing is that I am too wordy. I tend to write from a classical perspective, as if I was Charles Dickens or Jane Austen. I forget that the modern novel isn’t supposed to read like a nineteenth century, five-and-a-half inches thick, leather-bound, gold-lettered classic. It’s supposed to be MY story. And too often I lose my writer’s voice in a flood of flowery words that, while pretty, are boring to read.

And so one of the main pieces of advice I constantly receive (from these other writers who love me enough to keep reading my stories even though I continue to ignore their advice subconsciously) is to cut out wordiness. Delete every extra word I can find; get rid of description I don’t need; stop saying the same thing multiple times in different ways; etc., etc., etc.

When I sat down to do my first rewrite of this particular novel, that was my main goal. I was going to rip it to shreds, burn up the extras, and bury them where no one would be bothered with them again. As I wrote, though, I noticed that I wasn’t losing word count. It was staying at a relatively stable level. I was deleting plenty of words. What was my problem?

Then I read over several key paragraphs (each of which I had almost entirely rewritten). They were about the same length as when I had first written them. But they read so much smoother and more – well, readable.

That was when I discovered the true meaning of rewriting. Maybe it isn’t always about cutting down word count (even though there comes a point when you honestly have too many words to fit in). Maybe it’s more about what words are making up your word count.

Are the words you writing telling rather than showing? Are they distracting your audience instead of adding to your scene ? Are they to impress or simply to extend your word count? Are they describing something about a character that you’ve already described already (possibly several times)?

Or...

Are they enhancing the story? Setting the scene? Drawing your reader in? Giving your characters depth?

If the aforementioned is true…consider leaving your word count alone! It may not be the problem with your novel. And if it isn’t, chopping up your word count for that word count’s sake alone is going to hurt your story more than it will help it. From the girl who has spent the past week worrying over the fact that her word count wasn’t drastically dropping, take one piece of advice: remember that not every first draft is horrible; accept when it is horrible and when it's not; and ultimately seek to enhance your novel during a rewrite, not to fit only one element of editing. (It will cause much less frustration!)

Sincerely,

Yours Truly