John Dean – Crime Writer

The latest in the series of my free pieces of advice for emerging writers can be found in Handy Hints General, including Editing, accessed off the menu at my website. Actually it starts with advice from novelist Sarah Waters, who said: ‘Cut like crazy. Less is more. I’ve  often read manuscripts – including my own – where I’ve got to the beginning of, say, chapter two and have thought: “This is where the novel should actually start.” A huge amount of information about character and backstory can be conveyed through small detail. The emotional attachment you feel to a scene or a chapter will fade as you move on to other stories. Be business-like about it.”

It’s excellent advice. My take on the subject is that every line should drive the story forward. Ask yourself if the story needs the lines you are reading and if it doesn’t or you’re not sure, ask yourself ‘will the story still work if the passage is removed?’ If so, it’s worth considering bringing the delete button into play.

As I have mentioned before, even at the late editing stage an author still has to be prepared to be brutal with their words. In my case, the words that tend to become victims of the delete button turn out, when I analyse them, to be the ones which were written to increase the word count. Now, in the final edit, they must go because they’re unnecessary, usually excess dialogue or internal Point-Of-View passages that are not needed.

Does that mean I wasted my time writing them? Far from it, they were the words that triggered those many others that did survive. When they are removed in that final edit, it’s like removing the bits of scaffolding that kept the building up when you were still engaged on construction, but are now no longer needed. Removing them tends to give the remaining chapters extra pace and a sharper focus and, for me, the words that don’t make the final cut are just as important as those that do.