As a writer, I pour my heart out about whatever topic I’m writing on. Writers are usually very passionate people and have views on everything. Most have the keen ability to analyze everything they see. This is what gives writers the edge to write about a topic from another point of view or to point out hidden meanings or facts.
Writers can get wordy. Many of the blogs and articles I read about writing state that the writer should just get the story down on paper or computer, then go back, and edit. Edit seems to be a nasty word in the writing field. Edit means some of the writer’s words will be deleted, scratched out, but worse, some of the points the writer is trying to make may be lost.
Everyone who writes, whether it’s a school paper or a novel, wrestles with the wordiness and editing of the project. My first novel, “Everyone Evelon”, is 350 pages in print. It’s the usual 6 X 9 size, but 350 pages can be daunting for people to read. In this age of everything instant and quick, 350 pages seems like a copy of the Bible.
Although my novel is easy to read and the story moves along at a good pace, people pick up my book and then remark about the number of pages. I have never done that. Instead, when I pick up a book, I read the blurb to see, if I will ENJOY reading it. The size or length of the book doesn’t matter to me as long as I think I want to read it.
Even after publishing my novel, I’ve read my book over twice to see, if could have cut part of it out or used less words to tell the story. I don’t think so. It is balanced, an easy read, and every character has the time it needs in the story. Everything fits by the end of the story.
I’m in the process of writing a second novel. I don’t know if the first one took a lot of energy from me, but the second novel is only 51,000. The first one was 80,000. The second story jumps around a little, but has fewer characters. I guess I’m so conscious of being too wordy that I’ve tightened my writing style and thus created a shorter novel.
I like the second story as much as the first. The two are two separate stories, so no crossover or rehashing is necessary. These are two completely different stories, but I feel the writing styles are different. I could have added more to the second novel, but I wanted to stick to the main storyline. I don’t want to detract from the story or add in information that doesn’t not move the story forward. That’s another complaint from editors. Too much information in a story that serves no purpose.
I originally wanted to publish my second novel this summer, but I’ve decided to take a writing class instead. The American Christian Fiction Writers group (I am a member) offers classes throughout the year to help writers hone their writing skills. I’ve decided to take one of these classes at the end of the summer. I will review my manuscript again before submitting it and hopefully my writing will be stronger.
I want to give my readers the best I have, so I will continue try to learn and improve my writing skills.
Everyone Evelon is available at: Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and Createspace.com.
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