Happy Lent!
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| Should read, "Hello, my name is Jerry and I'm a writer." |
Last year, I admitted to my many failed attempts to shed chocolate and calories (the diet as devotion strategy) as my Lenten sacrifice (read about it HERE)...and that it was always a fail.
Sooo, this year, I needed a new plan and since I have added so many wonderful literary types of friends, I am proposing this challenge...
Brush off years of educational English class training which taught our brains that more is always betterer (yeah, I know there's a flagrant grammar error there...just seeing if you're paying attention) and we slaved to write papers where the word count was king. It was a time when an adjective before every noun and an adverb after every verb JUST MADE GOOD SENSE!!!!
But now you know fellow writer, the literary world rarely appreciates such prosey prose (editors are cringing from this post!!!). So, here is the challenge...
For the next 40 work days...remove 10% of the words from every chapter, every post, heck even from your kid's school notes.**
Trim away...and let me know how it goes.
** for all you writers still in school...you have a pass... you are exempted from removing the surplus of superfluous syntax even if it borders on ridiculously redundant if it gets you to the magical, mystical word count number.
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That's quite a challenge, but I do need to trim huge amounts from my chapters, so I'm in!
ReplyDeleteGood luck Kyra. Watching your progress on your blog!
DeleteGreat idea! I tend to attack my WiP's and hack away, even when I shouldn't. I've learned to take it slowly and get critiques along that way.
ReplyDeleteHappy Lent!
Happy Lent to you too. You had a great post today on manuscript cleaning yourself!
DeleteI LOVE the idea of Lent! No one seems to think of giving things up anymore. I'm cutting words too. 10K from my whole MS. It breaks down into 25 words per page. Totally doable!
ReplyDeleteWith your skills Angela, I'm sure it's going to be a breeze!
DeleteGreat idea! I trim my word count after I'm finished with the entire ms though, so maybe this Lent I should stick to going off the sugar. Then again, getting rid of unneeded purple prose does sound better than avoiding my homemade brownies...
ReplyDeleteNEVER avoid the brownies! Life is short lady!
DeleteI'm actually making some more this afternoon. Hehe! Gonna experiment with applesauce instead of all the butter.
DeleteOoo, this is a great idea! You're so smart:)
ReplyDeleteThank you Kelley. Will you please tell my children that?
ReplyDeleteBrilliant idea! I think I'll try it! Heaven knows I can't stop my chocolate addiction, but I CAN cut out some words. :)
ReplyDeleteI have tried the chocolate thing for the last twenty five years of my life and always fail. (all those failures did teach me to be very thankful Jesus wasn't a woos like me!)
DeleteNow I just try to think of something that will make me a little more congruent with who and what I want to be. Twisted logic, but it's mine. :)
I was so sure I was following you - I'm re-following now. And if I trimmed 10% from everything, I'd be left with a postage stamp, so I might need to add 10%!
ReplyDeleteAnnalisa! Welcome back...lol. I spent a whole morning blog hopping and commenting, only to find out all my comments were failing. Go figure!
DeleteNow if taking words out leaves you with a postage stamp, maybe you should aim for adding 10%. I'm just assuming everyone has writer's vomit like I do.