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musings, thoughts, and writings of Barbara W. Klaser


April 23, 2006

Which words count?

I’ve decided there are three kinds of writers when it comes to word count. Those who wind up with too few words, and those who wind up with too many. Then there are those fortunate souls who write just the right amount.

I’m in the second category. I’m a wordy writer, and it frustrates me to see how many extra words I write. If I’d been able to keep my words in check, the story surely wouldn’t have taken so long to come together. Or would it? Why this need to expand so much on what can be said with so many less words?

Authors who write about writing sometimes tell us a writer trains himself eventually how to write to word count. I’ve found I can do this with non-fiction, but fiction is another creature altogether. It’s all in the editing phase for me, or should I say the cutting phase. That’s where I am now, at the end of the third draft, embarking on the endless cutting phase.

It’s a matter of getting to the right words, the way a sculptor chips away at stone or wood to get to the form inside. Some people do more of the chipping away of words in their heads, in advance. I spill mine onto the page. I write and write and find when I’m done that there’s some good stuff there hidden among lots of other stuff that I have to sort through, sweep away, and haul off to the word dump in truckloads.

I wonder about the similarity of the words “mind” and “mine.” Is my mind a not so rich mine, containing too much useless ore to be sifted through? Have I never really hit the mother lode in there? Is the creative vein too thin, is there too much tailing left behind to be worth all this effort?

Do you write long or short? Do you trim away or build up content in your edits?

— Barbara @ 4:05 pm PST, 04/23/06

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5 Comments

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  1. 1.

    Writing too much and then chipping away to get to the story is an interesting approach (or perhaps I should say an interesting way to describe such an approach) and I’m sure it works as well as any. As for me, I write short. I tend to write scenes that are around 1,500 words long. Why, I can’t say. Maybe that’s the measure of my energy. And it probably isn’t a good thing for one’s scenes to tend to be the same length either, but there it is. Mary’s scenes tend to be a little longer I think. So the way Mary and I work is that we spin out a plot outline until it has 55 or 60 scenes, realizing from experience that although scenes will be added, more will be cut or shoved together. Inevitably, we then end up around 75,000 words, which is what we aim for since we both prefer short books. No, let me rephrase that. We prefer concise books. Sometimes I have to force myself to write at greater length, for effect. I tend to rush through events too quickly sometimes. I remind myself you need to leave a little “time” for the reader to feel involved in the action.

    Comment by Eric Mayer — April 24, 2006 @ 12:24 pm

  2. 2.

    I have heard of authors who have done 15 to 20 drafts of their books. I cannot even imagine doing that. Hope it gets pulled together the way you want it.

    Comment by violetismycolor — April 24, 2006 @ 7:40 pm

  3. 3.

    Coming from a background in news writing, I’m pretty well trained to write to fit. I can still hear the city editor calling across the newsroom, “Georganna, I’ve got a five inch hole. Fill it!” and seeing we were ten minutes from deadline. Writing fiction, now that’s a whole ‘nother world. When I try novels, I end up throwing out whole chapters (usually the first). I could edit them to death. They never get longer as a result of my revisions. I can only hope they get better.

    Comment by Georganna Hancock — April 25, 2006 @ 9:18 am

  4. 4.

    Barbara,
    Your question goes to the heart of writing’s mystery. Each of us comes to the page with a different approach, and there is no one way to get the words onto paper.

    Some writers let everything flow onto the page, then cut back; others build from one word to the next. The key is to find what works for you… and to find a way to accept your own process.

    There’s a distinction that needs to be made between writing to fit an editor’s requirements and writing to satisfy one’s own creative vision. In each case, the common ground that both kinds of writing share is this: the “right” words. Have you found the “right” word to describe what you want to say?

    So, whether you’re the kind of writer who has to march through a jungle of words with a machete, or the kind who hunts through a desert for that one drop of water… is more a question about finding a process that works… and less, really, about word count.

    Some writers do need to write 20 - 30 drafts (I’m one of them) to figure out what it is we’re trying to say. Others are able to construct an entire novel (plot, structure, scenes, sentences) in their heads before putting down a single word. Neither way is “better,” just a different way of working… depending on who you are.

    Thanks for sharing your own process. It’s always helpful to learn about another writer’s method for getting words onto paper.

    Comment by Bruce Black — April 28, 2006 @ 7:09 am

  5. 5.

    I’m a verbiage vendor. I crank out the words like a fire hose with a large hole in it. Then when I go back and read it I gotta slash and burn to get down to the meaty part.

    I’m always reminded that people don’t have time to read any more, that there are all these demands on people’s time, that there are too many diversions, etc. etc. Still, I find myself echoing my father’s insurance salesman’s speech pattern of repeating the idea at least three times. It’s annoying, and it takes a lot out of the finished story.

    Howsomever I know there’s always a market for every book, you just have to keep searching for it. That’s the only reason I’m still hopeful of being published for money. Oh, well, cie la vie.

    I think HOW one writes is not as important as WHAT one writes. And I chip away at the block of blather to uncover the unique story hiding underneath.

    Comment by For The Trees — April 29, 2006 @ 5:45 am

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