They say “writing is rewriting.” Or at least someone on my Facebook feed keeps posting an image quote of it. Unfortunately, I find it really hard to write and edit at the same time. If I stop to criticize every word as it hits the page, I’ll never get anything out. I daresay my ability to shush my critical voice while writing new material is probably the reason I have not had writer’s block since junior high school. Which is a good thing. But it also means there is clean up to do later.
Now that I have overwritten the novel and let it sit a few months, it is much easier to hack and slash. It’s kind of freeing, actually. Which is surprising. I guess I usually hate to cut what I’ve written, as I am emotionally attached to the characters. I want everyone to live that moment with my protagonist. If I cut it, no one will ever know about this side of her!
In grad school, when we had to cut scenes we were really sentimentally attached to, our teacher called it “killing our babies.” These tender moments are our brain children. But sometimes those children don’t belong in this particular story. Those children are sinking the ship. So we throw them overboard.
L.A. Kuemmel 