By: Janice
Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
I once had to
cut a major (and awesome) event from the end of a novel I was writing. This
event was so important to me, the entire magic system developed from it, and a
huge chunk of the book lead up to it. But after several months of struggling
during revisions, I realized I had a problem.
That awesome event wasn't working with the novel I had written.
I knew I had to cut it, but I didn't, because it was, well, awesome. And I loved it. And I'd pictured this event in my mind so clearly I could feel it.
But it wasn't working.
I spent a few months trying to make it work before I accepted that it had to go. It really killed me to kill it, but I couldn't write the novel I knew it could be without cutting that particular event. Once it was gone, and I re-outlined the new ending, my revisions got back on track and the novel was much stronger.
Even if getting there felt like I was cutting off a body part.
How I Knew it
Wasn't Working
The most obvious clues were my critique partners saying, "this ending feels like it's part of another book," and "I really don't care what happens in X." This event took place in a separate location from the bulk of the novel and happened to people the reader didn't know. Of course they wouldn't care.
The other clue was the way the rest of the novel kept heading in a different direction, and resolving that awesome event didn't resolve (without a lot of contrived plotting) the core conflict and main goals of the protagonists. And even with the contrivances it was iffy.
The last clue was my own instinct. I knew it. I could feel it.
Clues You
Might Need to Cut a Critical Event From Your Novel
1. Your writer's instinct says so.
. . .
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of the post, click here:
~*~
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