Using a scalpel to edit

I finished reading another book that I wanted to put down before getting halfway. It wasn’t badly written, but the characters were shallow and undeveloped. Most of the book was filled with descriptions that weren’t necessary even though many were poetic. Don’t pad a story just to reach a word count. Make sure every word counts and is necessary to move the story along.

This is where a scalpel is necessary. I finished writing and editing my latest book, “Raining Tears.” When I submitted the story, my editor said I needed to eliminate several subplots and backstories that slowed down the detective-crime story. Some writers balk at cutting any precious word from their darling manuscript, but I worked as a journalist, and when they said a 15-inch story, they meant it.

Before doing any cutting, I saved the original story under a different file name. This helps ease the pain of letting go. It also helps if I decide I need to reattach a paragraph or two. I was ruthless in my surgery even eliminating a whole chapter and summarizing it in a few lines of dialogue later in the story. Guess what? The reader will never miss that chapter, and now there is no slowdown to the flow of the action-driven story.

The story I read and won’t review opened with the hero breaking up with his long-term girlfriend and in another chapter the heroine finding out her boyfriend is gay. These chapters weren’t necessary. They could have been summed up later in the story. It took forever to get to the meat of the story.

The hero and heroine meet, but I never connected with them. The conversations were shallow and never revealed much about them except insecurities. She had lost her job but wasn’t looking for another and wondered why she had low self-esteem. He just wants to be friends because he’s afraid of a relationship even though he’s attracted to her. What a wimp. She sleeps with a guy she doesn’t have anything in common with. An unwritten rule in romance is the hero or the heroine doesn’t sleep with another person after finding “the one.” They finally get together but never have that heart-to-heart talk that explains why they love each other and where do they see themselves in ten years.

Develop your characters. Use that to fill the empty pages but make sure it drives the story forward instead of looking backwards. Couples have fights. They can sulk and let it poison the relationship or they talk about why it hurt and solve the problem. This strengthens the bond and moves the couple forward. Don’t wait until the final pages to resolve the relationship. It should rise and fall throughout the story so the characters can mature and grow. Coming together at the end should be natural after solving all their differences.

“Raining Tears” will be released Jan. 30, 2023. Here is a teaser with the blurb:

Detective Sydney Harrison thought the police shooting of an armed robber was cut and dry, but when the facts don’t add up, she finds herself in a cat-and-mouse game with a drug-addicted woman willing to sacrifice the lives of others to feel normal.

Claire’s life spiraled out of control when a grab and dash for a purse turned into a chance meeting with a stranger in a dark alley. His death wasn’t her fault, but the police are searching for her. Before running she needs to tie up loose ends even if it means another person has to die.

#detective #mystery #LauraFreeman