Writing Excuses Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 11: Trimming
13 snips
Aug 9, 2009 In this podcast, the hosts discuss the importance of trimming your manuscript to improve conciseness and impact. They provide tips on tightening prose, reducing word count, and maintaining the story's integrity. Strategies for cutting repetitive information and improving pacing are shared, along with a writing prompt challenge to condense a story by fifty percent.
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Why Trimming Matters
- Most manuscripts are longer than needed and benefit from trimming.
- Trimming removes bloat to make prose leaner, clearer, and pace faster.
Trim by Percentage Per Chapter
- Cut a fixed percentage from each chapter to meet a target word count.
- Use word processor counts and systematically trim chapters to meet goals.
Pournell and Niven's Trimming Story
- Jerry Pournell and Larry Niven trimmed "Mote and God's Eye" by removing about 50 words per page to cut 10%.
- This tedious process made the writing very tight and snappy, benefiting royalties and readability.