Saturday, April 06, 2013

Trimming

I restored Scrivener after a computer crash. The crash wasn't too bad; I use DropBox to sync my files between two machines. One of the first things I did was print out an manuscript. I've been working on it off and on for a while. I'm more likely to notice problems whit a manuscript when it's printed out, and this one is no exception.

The main problem with this manuscript is that the opening is clunky. I think I wouldn't have noticed if the manuscript were on the screen. Looking at a paper manuscript, I saw where the story really begins. I think there's a writing rule is called "Chekov's Razor," which states that most writers can improve a story by cutting out the first three paragraphs or -- depending on the length of the piece -- pages. It applied to this story, which is now better.




The other day was a difficult one. Some days I just feel worthless and stuck. I don't know if I'm getting the wrong amount of sleep or I'm fighting off a cold. It turns out Mark has a bug, so maybe I'm fighting it off, too.

I was talking about how I had been writing more--getting up extra early to write. But then then I got sick and then Daylight Savings started and I fell off the writing wagon. Mark's reply was to offer to poke me a 4AM.

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