I am having the most fun on draft three of the A Landscape of Shadows sequel. I’ve said goodbye to a few storylines and a handful of scenes that I was slightly sad to see go, but once I get into the rhythm of deletion, it takes on a life of its own. There were two one-liners that live in my head rent free but now only in my head. And that’s okay. They weren’t serving the scene.

When I’m in the trimming stage of editing, I go into it with the mindset that I need to allow the best of the best to shine through. The good writing will not get its due if it’s cluttered behind superfluous and mediocre writing. When necessary, big edits don’t take away from the story; they enhance it.

The statue lies hid in a block of marble; and the art of the statuary only clears away the superfluous matter and removes the rubbish. – Joseph Addison

In order to decide what has to go and what gets to stay, I ask myself a few questions, and if that section/scene/sentence can’t pass the tests, then it has to go.

• Is there information in this piece of writing that moves the plot, characterizes, or provides essential information?
• Is this information a repeat of itself? Have I covered this ground in any other place? And if so, which section performs the job better?
• Can I read it aloud without tripping over the wording or getting confused? Do I understand it clearly and quickly?

It’s rare that I can’t make a decision for myself, but if I’m really torn up about whether it stays or goes, I leave it in there and will wait for feedback from my beta readers.

With the wonders of technology at our disposal, writers never have to stress about cutting out too much, because we can easily save it in a different document to reference or replace as we want. And as much as I enjoy overwriting for my own sake, I’d rather leave a reader wishing for more than wishing the book had ended thirty pages ago!

Do you find it hard to cut material during revisions? Or are you a sparser writer in general?