posted
I've written a (very) short piece for a small ezine. Their word limit is 2000 words. My piece is 2086. I dont want to run the risk that they'll kick it out for being over sized, so what rules do you experienced writers use when you need to lose that extra wordage?
Posts: 32 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
You've probably done this already, but eliminate all superfluous adjectives and adverbs, replacing them with better nouns and verbs. At this point, eliminating a single sentence or a single word here and there would do a lot. It's amazing how quickly you can get rid of 86 words when you put your mind to it.
Posts: 814 | Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
Balthasar, I'm confused: why do you say MS Word's word count is wrong? I'm really curious, as I've never heard this before. Please clarify, thanks!
Posts: 338 | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
You can combine some of your sentences with compound subjects, compound predicates, or appositives. By combining some of your sentences you should be able to eliminate a few words.
Posts: 14 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
You should have already cut out all of the adverbs. If you've got dialogue you can trim that, too. Take out some articles and pronouns. "I have been to the house and back a couple of times." becomes "Been there couple times."
I find that medium size sentences tend to be efficient. You can sometimes cut a few words by combining two short sentences or breaking up a large sentence. This can make your pace monotonous, but in such a short piece it won't bother readers too much.
posted
If you're getting serious about submitting your stories, you should read all of the articles under "Manuscript Preparation" at the following link: www.sfwa.org/writing .
Good luck.
Two tips on how to get your manuscript down. First, how long are your character names? In his book ON WRITING, Stephen King says that when he changed one of his character's name from Ostermeyer to Olin, he cut his manuscript down by 15 lines (about 150 words)!
Second, determine which scene is the weakest scene in your story. How necessary is this scene? Can you disseminate the necessary info in the scene to other scenes? In short, can you cut it? If you can cut it, then find your next weakest scene and ask the same questions. If it can be cut, cut it. Then find your next weakest scene and . . . you get the picture. If you do this right -- if you keep cutting the weakest scenes until the new weakest scene is essential to your story -- then each scene will be vitally important to your story, and your story will be tight and not have a wasted word.
[This message has been edited by Balthasar (edited May 22, 2003).]
posted
I wouldnt say I was getting serious about submitting. I just happened up on the submissions wanted ad, and the material they're after matches what I was writing. It's a freebie thing, BUT on teh flip sid, if they accept, it'll be my first published piece. (Yeah, like that'll really happen).
Thanks for the tips anyway guys. I got it down to just under 2000 words.
I'll keep y'all posted on how it turns out (if it turns out)
quote:It's a freebie thing, BUT on the flip side, if they accept, it'll be my first published piece. (Yeah, like that'll really happen).
Sorry, but I couldn't resist. Why is it that so many people on this board are afraid of rejection letters? I see rejections as part of the road to becoming a successful author. Every story in James Joyce's THE DUBLINERS was rejected several times, and the world's best-selling novelist, Stephen King, had a spike nailed next to his type-writer filled with rejections as he was learning the craft.
You don't show up at the university on Sept 1, 2003 and graduate Sept 2, 2003. It takes four or five years of work to graduate. Success in any endeavor means enduring a period of apprenticeship and a series of failures. Didn't it take Edison over 9,999 tries to invent the light-bulb? Did you know that Col. Sander's chicken recipe was rejected 1,007 times before someone finally decided to buy it?
And who cares if you don't get paid for your story. If it gets accepted, you'll have a longer bibliography than most.
Sorry for the rant. Like I said, I couldn't help myself. But from what I've seen, what separates profession authors from wannabes is the number of rejection letters one can endure. In fact, that was one of Robert Heinlein's rules of writing -- keeping a story on the market until it is sold.
[This message has been edited by Balthasar (edited May 23, 2003).]
posted
*cowers before balthasar's mighty rant* never loked at things that way. But now you mention it, that actually does make sense. Cheers.
Posts: 32 | Registered: Apr 2003
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thanks.
