I don't know why I'm continuing to shave my second novel down. It's a hopeless exercise, but I'm simply not a quitter. Life would be easier if I was. Thus, in lieu of starting a new story, I continue my quest of condensing a full-length novel into a novella.
This requires some brutality. I'd already ditched the boss and the fiance; today it was the old lady's turn. Sorry, folks, but you've all gotta go. I enjoy secondary characters, but they need to serve a purpose other than adding to the word count. As is, I've still got the best friend for "spice" and the obsequious boss for conflict. Dad is in there, simply to prove that my main character isn't a hopeless recluse. The character I call "the savior" makes his appearance, and of course, the unknown antagonist. That's plenty.
I think I felt when I was writing the novel that I needed to keep adding people. And it's not that they're necessarily bad characters, but they needlessly muddied the waters. Now I'm endeavoring to stick to the main plot. A novella allows me to do that. But man! It's a slog!
It will be interesting to read the revised version, if I ever finish it. See if it flows or if it's simply nonsensical crap. Trust me, erasing whole chapters kind of hurts. All those words!
But it's either slash it or delete the entire manuscript. The novel is bad. Truly the worst thing I ever wrote, and I'm not hopelessly in love with a few of my stories.
I just want to finish this project and move on. Try to salvage what I can or kiss it goodbye forever. Chalk it up as an example of exactly the wrong thing to do.
Thank goodness I've gotten so much better.
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