photo credit: bluinfaccia
When I was in college, I had some outstanding writing professors. They were all very accomplished and they had plenty of good stuff to say, but one single piece of advice stands out among all the others. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that 80-90% of the value from those classes was wrapped up in that one simple rule – cut things ruthlessly.
As writers, we have a tendency to fall in love with our words – our clever turns of phrase and obscure references – but trust me, no one else cares like we do. And, as Kurt Vonnegut advised, we should, “Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.”
One great way to do this is just to take your piece and cut it in half. If you’re particularly wordy, do it one more time after that. It may seem impossible, but trust me, your readers will thank you.
Bob Hoff Says:
Good tip. Thanks for sharing. Also great pix of Vonnegut, one of my favorite writers, starting in the early 1970s when I read “Welcome to the Monkey House.”
Posted on January 1st, 2010 at 2:25 am
T.D. Says:
… and yet so many novelists successfully forget that. I totally agree and wished Dan Brown and his editor would have followed this advice in THE LOST SYMBOL.
Posted on January 1st, 2010 at 7:06 am
admin Says:
Hi Bob – Thanks for the comment. This may sound silly, but I never really appreciated Vonnegut until I saw his name pop up on the “distinguished alumni” list at my college. After that, I felt kind of an obligation to learn to appreciate his work. I was thrilled to realize that it was actually really, really good. He was definitely a breath of fresh air.
I like your website, too. It’s amazing how the internet has given us ways to preserve the unique histories of communities and sites that might otherwise be lost forever
TD – Ugh, don’t even get me started on Dan Brown. He’s one case where I would pick the movie over the book version every time!
Posted on January 1st, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Christine Coleman Says:
Thanks for this post! When I reached the words “In fact, I’d go so far as to say that 80-90% of the value from those classes was wrapped up in that one simple rule ”
I was hoping that you’d say this-
It’s what I always say when people ask me for tips and I try to practice it myself.
My first published novel, The Dangerous Sports Euthanasia Society, started off with 125,000
when I started sending it out in search of an agent (or publisher).
I still don’t have an agent, but will always appreciate the advice from one who’d wanted me to cut the word count to 80,000. Although in the end, he didn’t take me on as a client, I know that
in its leaner form (87,000) it’s now a much stronger novel.
I literally went through the whole book:each paragraph, each sentence, each word, challenging their right to remain on the page.
So, yes, we have to learn to be ruthless and murder our ‘best lines’, our darlings
Posted on January 3rd, 2010 at 12:55 pm