That sound you hear... you know, that shrill scream emanating from the northeast? That's me.
I've finished editing my novel. I added a scene at the end to make sure I had enough mush and a good, sappy ending because I love them.
Then I went through and deleted all my unnecessary "thats" and double checked my distancing words: felt, heard, saw. Take a wild guess how many "thats" I deleted.
Nope. Not even close. Try again.
Still wrong.
I deleted... are you ready for this? I deleted TWO HUNDRED "thats" from my novel.
Two. Hundred.
Un-freakin'-believable.
And now I am 503 words short. Sounds easy, right? Just add in 500 words... that's nothing.
I'm absolutely stumped, not to mention sick and tired of looking at this story. Five hundred lousy words are all that's keeping me from submitting my first novel.
*sigh*
Okay, back to the drawing board. I should be able to figure this out.
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On such a winter’s evening
2 days ago
6 comments:
Congrats!!! 503 words isn't too horrendous! And I'm sure I remove and equal number of thats from my manuscripts. Sad really.
Keep going, YOU KEN DOO EEEET!
500 words...Can somebody open a gift? An appropriate but unexpected gift...without a tag because it, um, fell off in the taxi and accidentally stuck to the next passenger's shoe so that (oops, I said "that". Sorry!) his left shoe now reads, "To my sweetest love. Hugs and and kisses forever, Vanessa.
OR maybe it could be a grossly inappropriate gift like a pink chainsaw or chocolate covered cheese-sticks.
Can a sudden, well described storm billow across the prairie and pelt the heroine with hail just as she exits the store with the romantic dinner ingredients?
Maybe it's time to add a pet - Morton the mule or Iris the setter.
Maybe I should shut up and write my own romantic comedy - something like a cross between Jane Austen and Louis Sachar with a sprinkling of James Stevenson.
You can do it, my friend. Just be nuts, like me. Or, if I scare you, go the opposite direction and be sane.
You can do it!
Marianne, we have faith in you. :)
BTW, I've posted my reply for the book meme.
I thought I sensed a disturbance in the force....
It sounds like you need to put that novel aside for a little while and take your DD to the lake, or garden, or meet a friend at a cafe. Even a good night's sleep would probably help.
Take a break, think friendly thoughts about your novel, and be receptive to any ideas that venture in. Then write!
Mostly, get a good night's sleep.
Good luck tomorrow.
Go Marianne, go!
*Alice ready with pom-pom, cheering Marianne on*
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