Trim, Trim, Trim Challenge

No, we are not talking about trimming your butt or your waist or your upper arms. We are talking word count in your writing projects.

I got the most fantastic rejection from a literary agent yesterday. Yes, rejections can be FANtastic. This one was. The agent graciously took the time to point out where my query wasn’t jiving with my sample pages as well as where I was doing well (Hallelujah!) as well as places where things were lacking. I.e. redundant or cliched.

It turns out, despite trimming 6,000 words off my women’s fiction story, THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME, I can still trim more.

The agent mentioned, “Don’t spell out what the reader can be expected to assume or discover.” As well, I was putting stuff in there that could go “without saying.”

So, I have issued a challenge to myself. I am going to see if I can trim at least 5,000 words off my manuscript. That’s 20 words per single-spaced page. (I work in single-spaced.)

Where am I at, 20 minutes into the challenge? I am 5 pages in and already down 184 words. Ay Karumba!

Start: 103, 669 words
Current: 103, 485 words

Let’s move it, baby!

Want to join the challenge? You can post in the comments section or join the thread I’ve started over on AgentQuery.