Culling Those Much-Loved Words

By Marilyn Forsyth

I recently faced the massive problem of having to cull my medieval/contemporary timeslip manuscript by 45K words. 😟 I’d spent over a year writing 140K words, only to be told by the two editors and an agent I pitched to at the RWA conference that it had to be cut to 90-95K words before sending it to them.

That was, like, one-third of my story!!!

The good news is, I did it. (Yay me!)

Image courtesy of giphy

Here’s how:

1. First, I looked at choices for removing huge chunks of the story. Could I take out whole chapters, whole subplots, whole point-of-view characters?

I found I was able to remove two chapters that, though fascinating from a historical point of view, were not strictly needed to move the plot forward.

Image courtesy of giphy

Did it hurt? 

Like a punch to the heart! 

I loved writing those chapters.

2. Next, I went scene by scene to decide if each one was really necessary. Did it up the stakes, or show character development, or move the story forward?

This was tough, but also enlightening. I changed a heap of scene beginnings to start at a later point (while still managing to keep the hooks 😇).

Did it hurt? Hell, yeah! I loved those scenes.

3. My next task was to examine the dialogue and introspection. Had I repeated conversations, thoughts and actions?

Image courtesy of giphy

Why, yes, I had...and way too many times. 

I ended up cutting and/or combining a ton of each of these. And while I was at it, I noticed some descriptions of characters and settings were worded very similarly, so I did a search for keywords and either deleted or changed the descriptions (shortening them at the same time).

Did it hurt? Did it what! That dialogue was sparkling, those descriptions were captivating.😉

4. By this time, I was down to reduced to removing individual words. Yes, folks, that’s what it came down to.

Image Author's own

I’ve been writing long enough to know that really, very, just, that, and so are my favourite filler words, but a run through of each chapter on Autocrit brought up some other interesting overused words (eyes, hands, now - needless to say, more editing was required).









Did it hurt? Nope. Those fillers have no place in my writing.

I finally reached my goal of 95K words (after several months’ working on it) but, with all the deletions, I had to check that my plot points still occurred in the right place (to my delight - and amazement - they did), and then reread to make sure my story made sense. (I'm happy with it, but if there are any beta readers out there who’d like to offer their services, I'm up for honest feedback.😜)

This image (courtesy of giphy) has nothing to do with the post and is unashamedly gratuitous.

But let's get back to this post...

Wouldn’t it be great if culling was as simple as deleting words and leaving it at that? Unfortunately, it’s not. But what I’ve learned is that, after so many changes have been made, the most important thing is to ensure your story still hangs together. That there are no loose ends. That your story is still worth telling.

That the threads of your story weave a tale that is worthy of the reader, because that is what we all strive for.

Have you ever had to cull a story you loved writing? How did you go about it?

Love to Love the DIY writing retreat my crit partners and I undertook in February. The weather was pretty conducive to writing.

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Love to Laugh when reminiscing about the past. Had so much fun catching up with old school buddies last week!

Love to Learn the inspiration behind Beth O’Leary’s The Flat Share. You can watch her interview at https://myvlf.com/theatre-hall (click Watch Now when you get there). Myvlf is a fabulous website for authors and readers alike.

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Romantic Settings - Rural Romance

By Sharon Bryant

Which Setting and Why?

Setting is an integral part of any quality romance novel. It can serve to highlight themes of the story, or emphasise a character’s feelings. Sometimes a setting can evoke introspection, or trigger a character’s memory from the past. It can even play a role in the developing romance.

Rural Romance

Rural romance has a diverse range of settings including small towns, farms, and the arid landscapes of the outback. As a subgenre, it offers great breadth of opportunity to authors, and a diverse range of vicarious experiences to its readership.

Two of my favourite romance novels are described below. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Maggie's Run by Kelly Hunter

Maggie’s Run by Kelly Hunter is part of the Outback Brides series. Maggie Walker inherited run-down Wirra Station in rural Victoria when Carmel, the lady who raised her, dies. Maggie’s parents were tragically killed in a car fire when she was a child. She was saved from the flames by twelve-year-old Max O’Conner. He was unable to save her parents. She has never forgiven him. Carmel had her own demons to deal with, and brought Maggie up without love or kindness. Max has loved Maggie for many years, and is keen to reach out to her. He hopes for more than friendship.

Kelly Hunter uses setting masterfully to convey character’s feelings and elucidate relationships. “There was café coffee happening in Carmel Walker’s spartan kitchen and Maggie took perverse pleasure in knowing Carmel would have called it a frivolous indulgence.”

This is a fabulous novel. I felt for Maggie and Max, and was so excited when they reached their happy ending.

On the Right Track by Penelope Janu

I was introduced to Penelope Janu's novels at her author talk at Anna’s Shop Around the Corner in Cronulla. I have been a keen fan of her books ever since. Penelope is highly intelligent, insightful, pragmatic and funny, and she brings these qualities to her writing.

On the Right Track is the story of Golden Sanders, a rural-based speech pathologist. Independent, feisty and determined, Golden has a damaged relationship with her family, and a physical injury to her leg. Her deceased father and grandfather are believed to have been involved with proceeds of crime. Tor Amundson, a confident and clever man with a touch of arrogance is sent to investigate. Golden loved her grandfather dearly, and wants to ignore Tor. However, her stepfather who has a financial hold over the rural property she loves, pressures her to assist him.

Like Kelly Hunter, Penelope Janu is gifted in the use of setting to convey a characters’ feelings, and awaken their memories. About halfway through the novel, Tor actively probes Golden’s knowledge of people linked to his investigation. The following lines in Golden’s viewpoint come immediately beforehand.

“I stop on the highest patch of ground where the roots of the tree are exposed, and rest my bag against the trunk. It’s smooth and cream, except for the uneven narrow lines that mark it.”

This description triggers memories for Golden, serves as a metaphor for her feelings about her injured leg, her reaction to Tor’s probing, and the risk she takes in furthering their relationship.

This novel is a joy to read. It's a real page-turner.

Do you have a favourite rural romance novel? Did the setting contribute to your enjoyment of the book?

I love to love: Family time

I love to laugh: With friends

I love to learn: More about the craft of writing

Guest Blogger: Leisl Leighton

 The Importance of Narrative Drive

I’ve been building a little side-business over the last year and a half - manuscript assessment and mentoring - and every manuscript I assess, every author I mentor, makes me think more deeply about what it is we do to write our stories, how we go about it, the choices we make and the effort we put into learning to grow and make our writing as good as we can.

What makes a good story?

Writing teachers talk about a lot of things - POV, tense, GMC (goals, motivation, conflict), the Three Act Structure, voice, place - and each of those things is incredibly important to build the right narrative drive for your story. If one of these isn’t spot on, then the narrative drive isn’t right and the story falls down. Badly structured narrative drive is more often than not responsible for manuscripts that meander around but never get anywhere, or the saggy middle, or the end that fizzles.

What is narrative drive?

Writers often think narrative drive is the same as structure - it’s not. Narrative drive is more than what makes up the plot and how. It’s more than ‘add protagonist’s journey here’. It’s more than GMC and the all-important Three Act Structure. Put all of these together, add voice and you have narrative drive.

It took me some time to understand narrative drive and all the elements that make it work. Now that my ninth published book is about to be released in May (Blazing Fear), I feel that I have come to understand it intimately. 

All the work that goes into redrafting and editing my novels is in service to narrative drive. It’s the thing that I bang on about the most when doing assessments and what I teach when I’m mentoring - teaching just about voice or conflict or structure individually isn’t enough to make a book speak to readers. Of course, I teach all of those skills because they are part of narrative drive!

How do I make my narrative drive work?

Narrative drive isn’t something that just comes. An author must make choices for it to work. That doesn’t mean you have to be a plotter - I’m not. I’m a pantser. But I still have to make choices at some time to decide how to structure the conflicts to drive the protagonist’s journey onward in a page turning way to a satisfying end. Some of those choices come easily, some require many rewrites, but in the end, everything is in service to the narrative drive. Making your narrative drive work is hard work, but it is all so worth it in the end. Once you have it and understand it, it is the key that will open the lock to a world of wonderful manuscripts full of the stories you want to tell, and do so in a way that shines.

What do you do to ensure you continue to hone your writing skills?

I love to love: Books that show me how to be a better writer.

I love to learn: About narrative drive and how to make it work better.

I love to laugh: With my writing friends as we work through our mistakes and improve together.