Comments on: Novel Length and Writing Questions http://www.ilona-andrews.com/2010/02/07/novel-length-and-writing-questions/ New York Times Bestselling Author Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:19:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Robert A. Howard http://www.ilona-andrews.com/2010/02/07/novel-length-and-writing-questions/comment-page-1/#comment-31933 Robert A. Howard Thu, 16 Dec 2010 01:12:54 +0000 http://www.ilona-andrews.com/?p=3950#comment-31933 There is a saying in writing (when editing your finished work): kill your baby. You need to cut anything in it that is unnecessary. It doesn't matter if the scene is your favorite; if it does nothing for the plot, then cut it. (As an example... in "Fellowship of the Rings" the Tom Bombadil segment is actually unnecessary and doesn't move the plot along appreciably. It could have been removed from the series without harming the book. Now, I love that segment to death... but it was extraneous.) Rob H. There is a saying in writing (when editing your finished work): kill your baby. You need to cut anything in it that is unnecessary. It doesn’t matter if the scene is your favorite; if it does nothing for the plot, then cut it. (As an example… in “Fellowship of the Rings” the Tom Bombadil segment is actually unnecessary and doesn’t move the plot along appreciably. It could have been removed from the series without harming the book. Now, I love that segment to death… but it was extraneous.)

Rob H.

]]> By: Jana http://www.ilona-andrews.com/2010/02/07/novel-length-and-writing-questions/comment-page-1/#comment-10231 Jana Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:37:35 +0000 http://www.ilona-andrews.com/?p=3950#comment-10231 "Some books take one draft, some take eight." So true. Some books flow out of the end of your fingers like sparking water. Others you have to chip out of your hide with an dull ax. It's usually the latter that require a lot of reworking because that first/third/fifth draft doth mightily suck. Thanks for sharing! “Some books take one draft, some take eight.”

So true. Some books flow out of the end of your fingers like sparking water. Others you have to chip out of your hide with an dull ax. It’s usually the latter that require a lot of reworking because that first/third/fifth draft doth mightily suck.

Thanks for sharing!

]]> By: Xid Trebor http://www.ilona-andrews.com/2010/02/07/novel-length-and-writing-questions/comment-page-1/#comment-10230 Xid Trebor Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:10:43 +0000 http://www.ilona-andrews.com/?p=3950#comment-10230 Thanks for the info! Always enjoy writer's lessons. Thanks for the info! Always enjoy writer’s lessons.

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