5000 less

I’m sure some writers work in a much more considered way than I do, pondering every word, weighing the balance of each phrase, measuring each sentence against a standard. I’m sure many writers craft their work as they work… I have to confess I just write; I do rewrite as I go, but mainly I just want to get my story on the page, to get a great lump of narrative there and then when it’s whole, then I start to really work on it. When I have a completed story the hard work begins. I bash it about, I whack out the inconsistencies, speak severely to my characters and get them to pull themselves together and act sensibly. I start decorating the scenery – by which I mean I try to create a proper and consistent and believable backdrop to the action, and I look at the actual writing.

I know I write too much, but that’s the way I work; so now I’m going through my next novel, Magick and I’m smoothing and polishing and refining and redefining… and I have lost 5000 of those extra words which somehow sneaked in my enthusiastic and maybe unbridled inspiration. I expect to lose a lot more too, to tighten it all up and have a less rambling and more precise story, ready for publication!