Time for the fine sandpaper

[nonionay]

I'm starting line edits today. This is the first time I've used The 10% Solution on something this long. We'll see if I go nuts by weekend's end.
I'd thought my novel was a clunky 145,000 words, but then I realized I was still including some scenes that I'd hacked out in a fit of ruthlessness. (I feel like an abusive parent, but hopefully I'm hacking off unsightly tumors rather than cute pink toes.)
And so, my novel is 135,769 words, pre-polish. Ten percent is 13,577 words, leaving it at 122,000, which I can live with.
Already I did the first scene, taking it from 1,841 to 1,793. Okay, fifty words isn't ten percent, but it's still satisfying.
Time for a celebratory cookie.

Comments

[spencimusprime.livejournal.com]

In the tradition of "do as I say, not as I do,"

Make it shorter!

[criada.livejournal.com]

I'm working on it!
And what about your whole "Look at Lamentation! It's a long first novel," Huh? :-P

[shadesofmauve]

I feel like an abusive parent, but hopefully I'm hacking off unsightly tumors rather than cute pink toes.

But you're a writer. That means that if you did hack off little pink toes, you can always sew them on later, creating an adorably disturbing toe-shoulder monster child!