Tag: revision

Self-Editing: 7 Tips to Tighten the Story & Cut Costs

A fallacy among many emerging writers is that authors only write the books. Then, once finished, agents will fall in LOVE and someone else will do ALL the editing. *clutches sides laughing.* Yeah…no. And woodland creatures don’t help with housework. Sorry to break the news. Bummed me out, too. The hard truth is the onus …

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Little Darlings & Why They Must Die..for Real

These two related booby-traps are often hidden beneath our little darlings (clever dialogue, beautiful description, etc). That is probably why Stephen King recommended we kill them. Yes, kill them dead. No burying them in the Pet Semetary, also known as “revision.” Killing means killing….as in delete forever. Yet too many times we hang on to those favorite characters or bits of dialogue, reworking them and hoping we can make them fit…at the expense of the rest of the story.