Editing and the book growth problem - Page 2

Steven Lake · 11-25-2010, 12:13 PM

lol. Coming back briefly to this topic, I'm working on one novel that was about 151k words long when I started my latest edit on it, and then grew to a whopping 160k words before I realized that it was actually *too* big. So I've since then been going through it with a brushhog and have reduced it by almost 20k words already. Most of that reduction has come from the removal of unnecessary scenes and some additional story elements that really did not add anything to the book, or ultimately detracted from it. I'm only about 15% into this editing round, so I expect the book to drop another 20k words before all is said and done to a comfortable 120k words, which is really all the larger I want it to be as that's a nice, manageable size.

I've got another one I'll be working on right after this one that's gonna have to lose some serious word weight before all is said and done.

Notre Dame · 12-14-2010, 07:58 PM

John Creasey, who produced 600 novels (gulp!) and used 28 pseudonyms (How did he remember who he was supposed to be at each particular time?) wrote, as you can guess, rather speedily. When he finished, he would put the MS in a drawer and leave it for 6 months while he wrote a few more books, and only then would he re-read the first effort and so come at it afresh to begin his rewriting & editing.
http://chrisscottwilson.co.uk

Notre Dame · 12-14-2010, 08:07 PM

On editing: I wrote my first few books on a typewriter. The publisher would only take certain lengths. No more. No less. These factors could sharply focus the mind regarding wordiness, revision and editing, especially when you have to type out the whole damn thing again before final submission. Liquid Paper was my best friend.
http://chrisscottwilson.co.uk

John Carroll · 12-15-2010, 02:24 PM

My books go both ways . . . . umm . . . not like that. I mean they get smaller and bigger.
My first edit, I tend to go through and make sure I have descriptions of the way things look, smell, sound, taste and feel. That usually adds another 2000 or so words per 100,000.
Then I remove the word 'that' which lowers the count by a thousand.

If something needs to be fleshed out or added, I put on more words.
Then I go through and get rid of redundancies. I have a habit of saying the same thing in two or three words.

My first book started out as 104,000 words before edits. My wife told me to add a chapter to develop the characters a little more which added 3000 words. the final count was 107,000. Basically, if I hadn't added that chapter, the word count would have remained the same.

Kemp · 12-15-2010, 05:10 PM

I think one of the best ways a word count comes down is in the removal of unnecessary words and redundancy of description. In the last couple of days, I've managed to trim 1000 words out simply by removing excess, "Look, seem, almost, just, and that" from the novel, among other things.

Though I believe the jury is out on whether or not the average reader is going to notice an excess of words like those (unless it's really awful), removing them does streamline the writing at least a little bit.

That having been said, my normal edits usually add a number of words or *cough* chapters.

bobavey · 12-16-2010, 02:01 PM

My books generally do not grow that much during the editing stage. Then again, I agonize over the work as I go along. Perhaps that's why it takes me so long.

DaronFraley · 12-16-2010, 04:39 PM

I would agree, Steve. My first novel sat at about 90,000 words when I got accepted with a regional publisher. As I went through the editing process with my editor (and she is a very talented author herself), we slashed lots of fluff, most of it being sentence structure issues, or redundancy, etc. But she also suggested several scenes to be further developed. In the end, my word count actually increased slightly.

So to me, that seems normal. My editor there did such a good job that even though I left the publishing company to self publish, I plan on using her again.

Daron D. Fraley
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/DaronFraley

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11-25-2010, 12:13 PM	#16
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,158 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	lol. Coming back briefly to this topic, I'm working on one novel that was about 151k words long when I started my latest edit on it, and then grew to a whopping 160k words before I realized that it was actually too big. So I've since then been going through it with a brushhog and have reduced it by almost 20k words already. Most of that reduction has come from the removal of unnecessary scenes and some additional story elements that really did not add anything to the book, or ultimately detracted from it. I'm only about 15% into this editing round, so I expect the book to drop another 20k words before all is said and done to a comfortable 120k words, which is really all the larger I want it to be as that's a nice, manageable size. I've got another one I'll be working on right after this one that's gonna have to lose some serious word weight before all is said and done.

12-14-2010, 07:58 PM	#17
Notre Dame Magus Posts: 46 Karma: 530322 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle	John Creasey, who produced 600 novels (gulp!) and used 28 pseudonyms (How did he remember who he was supposed to be at each particular time?) wrote, as you can guess, rather speedily. When he finished, he would put the MS in a drawer and leave it for 6 months while he wrote a few more books, and only then would he re-read the first effort and so come at it afresh to begin his rewriting & editing. http://chrisscottwilson.co.uk

12-14-2010, 08:07 PM	#18
Notre Dame Magus Posts: 46 Karma: 530322 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle	On editing: I wrote my first few books on a typewriter. The publisher would only take certain lengths. No more. No less. These factors could sharply focus the mind regarding wordiness, revision and editing, especially when you have to type out the whole damn thing again before final submission. Liquid Paper was my best friend. http://chrisscottwilson.co.uk

12-15-2010, 02:24 PM	#19
John Carroll kookoo Posts: 1,461 Karma: 7772454 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Colorado Springs Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Nook, LG4	My books go both ways . . . . umm . . . not like that. I mean they get smaller and bigger. My first edit, I tend to go through and make sure I have descriptions of the way things look, smell, sound, taste and feel. That usually adds another 2000 or so words per 100,000. Then I remove the word 'that' which lowers the count by a thousand. If something needs to be fleshed out or added, I put on more words. Then I go through and get rid of redundancies. I have a habit of saying the same thing in two or three words. My first book started out as 104,000 words before edits. My wife told me to add a chapter to develop the characters a little more which added 3000 words. the final count was 107,000. Basically, if I hadn't added that chapter, the word count would have remained the same.

12-15-2010, 05:10 PM	#20
Kemp Zealot Posts: 106 Karma: 271834 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Minnesota Device: none	I think one of the best ways a word count comes down is in the removal of unnecessary words and redundancy of description. In the last couple of days, I've managed to trim 1000 words out simply by removing excess, "Look, seem, almost, just, and that" from the novel, among other things. Though I believe the jury is out on whether or not the average reader is going to notice an excess of words like those (unless it's really awful), removing them does streamline the writing at least a little bit. That having been said, my normal edits usually add a number of words or cough chapters.

12-16-2010, 02:01 PM	#21
bobavey Bob Avey Posts: 117 Karma: 501082 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Broken Arrow, OK Device: none	My books generally do not grow that much during the editing stage. Then again, I agonize over the work as I go along. Perhaps that's why it takes me so long.

12-16-2010, 04:39 PM	#22
DaronFraley Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 96 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle	I would agree, Steve. My first novel sat at about 90,000 words when I got accepted with a regional publisher. As I went through the editing process with my editor (and she is a very talented author herself), we slashed lots of fluff, most of it being sentence structure issues, or redundancy, etc. But she also suggested several scenes to be further developed. In the end, my word count actually increased slightly. So to me, that seems normal. My editor there did such a good job that even though I left the publishing company to self publish, I plan on using her again. Daron D. Fraley http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/DaronFraley

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