People write for many different reasons. To make
sense of the world, to tell stories, to organize their thoughts more clearly,
to communicate, to give information. And don’t we all know situations where
we’ve blurted things out and later regretted it. And no matter how much wishing
we do, we can never unsay those words.
But a writer is lucky because when we write we do
have that chance to control what others see.
Yesterday I was editing the penultimate chapter of
strand A and yes, the sentences, word choice, figures of speech, flow of plot
and action seemed okay but this was the section bridging the climax and the
conclusion and I knew it was dull, lacking
that snap and sizzle needed to keep a reader engaged. It was
also too long and everyone was simply being too nice. So I started mulling over
what I could do.
This morning I
woke up with the idea quite clear in my mind – I was going to cut the whole
chapter as the story really didn’t need it. It was as if I’d passed a
threshold, a Rubicon, in making such a drastic decision.
However when I
gave the chapter a final read I realized that I certainly needed the first half
as it concluded the drama at the end of the previous chapter. It was the second
half which was dragging its feet with its ‘Yes, you’re lovely and I’m lovely
too’ conversation.
So I went to
work with my finger firmly fixed on the delete button. Now my characters’ conversation indicates at least cross purposes, if not
actual conflict, and I managed to introduce a minor crisis which is shared only with
the reader. I feel more satisfied as it’s livelier even if it’s now the
shortest chapter in the book!
I’ve read that a
writer has to cut anything that doesn’t drive the story forward but from inside
your head where the story is living, it’s not always easy to get the distance
which makes it clear where those cuts need to be made.
Today's Haiku
New Delhi
Horns toot and saws whine,
Bleeps, buzzings, blares deafen ears.
I sit by the pool.
I’m finding this
blogging is getting into my brain though I’m not prolific enough to manage my
own writing and a blog every day, but I am going to persevere.
Thank you to those
of you who’ve emailed with encouraging comments, and thanks for those new
websites to check out. Very useful.
Here are some
recommendations which I hope are useful.
Here are a
couple of websites about writing - I think good advice is always worth listening to;
And if you
haven’t read Stephen King’s book ‘On
Writing’, I would suggest you do.
For all book
lovers out there, I wish you good reading and for those of you who write, good
writing.
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