My editor recently reminded me of two important tenets of editing. One, every word must earn its place on the page; and two, every sentence must move the story forward. Oh, and a third. Don’t fall in love with your words.
These editing rules, or guidelines as they might be, make editing a challenge that dims the joy of writing just a little. Because undoubtedly, there will be words you love, words that spring from your fingers so brilliantly they flood color onto the page and strike joy in your heart. And yet, they don’t move the story an inch. Not one iota.
Oh, but the scene is soooo good! It evokes emotion! Fear, pain, heartache! Doesn’t it enhance characterization? Doesn’t it give the story depth? Maybe, yes; but the fact of the matter is, cutting the scene doesn’t harm the book. The sad truth is that the scene doesn’t add anything important, and it doesn’t push the characters any closer to their goals.
Delete.
But save it, my sister says. It’s too good to throw away; you can use it in another tale where it can move the story forward.
So the car crash scene has been surgically removed from the WIP. The book has lost weight. It’s leaner and the deletion leaves room for new, more effective words. Right?
(But, oh! Did I love that scene!)
