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SUMMARY:The Fine Art of Killing Words: Editing for a Lean\, Mean Manuscript - Beth Henderson
DESCRIPTION:Workshop Description:  \nA few years back my agent gave me what sounded like an impossible mission. Trim a 100\,000+ word manuscript to under 90\,000 words. That’s approximately 35 pages worth of words. Words I sweated to string together. Words I loved. \n“I think it will interest more editors at the shorter length\,” my agent said. Considering I’d done estimated word counts on similar books and thought that 100\,000 was on the slim side\, I was dumbfounded. I’d already edited it to death\, I thought. \nI thought wrong. \nThe thing to remember is that the marketplace changes\, but those changes frequently don’t show up at the bookstore until the manuscripts currently bought by editors make it to the bookshelves. This could be anywhere from months to a couple years away. \nIf editors were now looking for shorter stories\, so be it\, I thought and settled in for yet another set of editing sessions. \nAnd cut 11\,353 words – in five days’ time. \nOddly enough\, the manuscript I’d thought was perfect\, sang much more sweetly when I finished. \nIn four weeks\, we’ll walk this walk together\, evaluating what can go and what needs to stay\, changing verbs\, revising sentences\, giving up adverbs (hardest thing for me!)\, trimming descriptions\, catching when characters babble\, and limiting dialogue tags. And there will be show and tell examples in which I’ll give bits of what was cut or modified in some way in that manuscript that got the major trim job. \nThe Fine Art of Killing Words isn’t entirely about using the delete key\, it’s about turning out a manuscript that hits all the right notes. \nOddly enough\, ever since this major trim job\, no one has asked me for a major remodel on a manuscript. Think I might have learned my lesson well. Care to walk this walk with me to your own benefit? \nInstructor’s Bio:  \nBeth Daniels has been a workshop presenter since online workshops came into their own around 2010. She is the author of 40+ novels (two due to be released in 2025)\, 10+ short stories\, 10+ novellas\, and still adding to those numbers in 2025. Currently she writes romance as Beth Henderson\, urban fantasy/mystery as J.B. Dane\, and Steampunk\, Dieselpunk and Gaslamp Fantasy mystery/comedy as Nied Darnell. That means she does one heck of a lot of word rehabilitation (both killing and changing words) in one manuscript after another while refining her product!
URL:https://oiwi.org/workshop/the-fine-art-of-killing-words-editing-for-a-lean-mean-manuscript-beth-henderson/
CATEGORIES:Workshops
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ORGANIZER;CN="Director of Education & Campus Services":MAILTO:karenmcatlinoiwi@gmail.com
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