Trimming Excess Words

Today, I’m continuing my series on trimming excess words? Try these tips:

Read books in the same genre in which you’re writing to determine how and where longer descriptions work. Read a book first for the entertainment value. If you enjoyed it, read it again to analyze how long and short descriptions were woven into the story.

Read your work aloud and concentrate on the description. By reading aloud, your mind will be more attuned to awkward phrasing and will hone in on other mistakes, such as excessive use of words.

Avoid information dumping at the beginning of a story. Information dumping is offering too much information about a character or situation in the opening chapter. If you spend three pages telling why the character is upset, the reader will be even more upset. Long exposition slows and sometimes stops the action. Too much detail and backstory are not necessary and will fail to hook the reader.

Find useless words and zap them. Some useless words I am guilty of using are just, even, felt, like, really, seems, thought, very, that and more.

When my tummy turns queezy at the idea of cutting words, I remind myself that it’s not about the words, it’s about the story.

Next week, I’ll look at more ways to put your manuscript on a diet and achieve success.

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

INSIGHT WRITING CONTEST—Deadline July 31, 2014. Categories are student short story,
general short story, and student poetry. Prizes range from $50 to $250. Winning entries will be published in Insight. You must be age 22 or under to enter the student categories. Short stories are limited to seven pages. Poetry is limited to one page.

Submission guidelines at http://www.insightmagazine.org/contest/rules.asp

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Gotham Writers. It may be apocryphal, but the story goes that Ernest Hemingway won a bet by writing a short story that ran fewer than ten words. One version of the story places the bet at the famed Algonquin “round table.” Whether true or not, there is an actual bet-winning short story attributed to Hemingway:

For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.

You have to admit it’s pretty good. It builds, and there’s a whole world of background and emotion lurking beneath those words.

We would like to make a similar bet with you. Write a great short story in ten words or fewer. (You may use a title, but that goes into the word count.) Submit it to our contest. Entry is free. Winner of the bet gets a free Gotham class.

We did this contest last year, and here’s the winner:

Remnants of beard peppered her sink. He left nothing else.
A. Crossley Spencer
Summerfield, North Carolina

The Details:

·        Submit an original, unpublished 10-word short story.

·        Entries must be submitted online by midnight Eastern Time, May 18, 2015. Only online entries will be accepted.

·        Entry is free. Limit one entry per person.

·        Entry must consist of no more than 10 words. You may use a title but that goes into the word count. Longer entries will be disregarded.

·        Entry must be original and unpublished.

·        Entries will be judged on originality, quality, spelling, and grammar.

·        Gotham will post the winning entry at GothamWriters.com

·        The winner will be notified by June 3, 2015.

Deadline: May 18, 2015.

Submission guidelines at http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/10W.php

Trimming a Manuscript/Contest/Calls for Submissions

Writing in all genres involves slicing and dicing words to get to the heart of the story. Gardeners prune apple trees by cutting some of the branches. The tree becomes stronger, takes on a better shape, and produces more fruit simply by cutting the parts that interfere with growth. Writers also need to slice and dice words, phrases, and even paragraphs that diminish the story.

Some writers use this equation to trim their work: First Draft-10%=Second Draft. Cutting ten percent during revision seems like a waste of good words and hard work, but you’ll find that the first draft is never your best work. Allow your first draft to be as long as you need it to be. Then set a word limit and cut the unnecessary words. Some need to cut much more than others. Every writer is different and every book is different.

So what do I cut?

Begin with action or where the character’s life is about to change instead of a long build-up in the first chapter.

Use dialog to develop the character and to move the story forward. If the dialog doesn’t do either, remove it.

Many dialog tags can be deleted. If the reader can figure out who is talking, omit “he said.”

Point a critical eye to detailed descriptions. Give the reader enough information to form a mental picture but every detail of a setting can slow down the story and become boring reading.

Telling rather than showing uses excessive words. Show the reader the action rather than telling.

Concise, tight writing makes editors smile. Review your manuscript with scissors in hand.

Next week I’ll discuss more ways to cut out unnecessary words.

Contest for Adult Writers

Inspired by Tagore: International Writing Competition
“This year sampad is delighted to be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rabindranath Tagore with Inspired by Tagore, an international writing competition.Tagore was a hugely influential South Asian poet and many sampad projects have celebrated his legacy or been sparked by a line of his poetry….There are 2 categories: one for writers aged between 8 and 15, one for writers aged 16 and over. Entries can be poetry, short stories or reportage, and writers can submit up to 6 pieces of work, maximum length 400 words, using Tagore’s poetry and writing as a starting point….There will be a special prize for the overall winners: Best writer in 8 to 15 category will receive GBP 200 and best writer in 16 and over category will receive GBP 300. All winning writers will be published.”
Deadline: January 31, 2012
Details at http://www.sampad.org.uk/learning/opportunities/competitions/


Call for Submissions for Young Writers

Stone Soup is made up of stories, poems, book reviews, and art by young people through age 13. Although all the writing we publish is in English, we accept work from all over the world.
Details: http://www.stonesoup.com/stone-soup-contributor-guideline/