Current wordcount on the evil WIP

[roselightfairy]

for those following along at home.

Actual story: 73,673
Anticipated additions: maybe 15k? But then, I thought it needed 15k more when it was at 62k, so who EVEN KNOWS?
Cut-stuff/notes/killed-darlings document: 8,455

...why.

Comments

[katajainen]

... I was going to ask how?, because I doubt the longest piece I ever wrote was even over 30k XD

No, but seriously: it's a story and it wants out.

[roselightfairy]

The trouble is that all the parts that really wanted out are now out... so I’m left with all these pieces of story from radically different times to patchwork together with all the other scenes that need to be written.

And as far as length goes: I once had a writing teacher who said the difference between poetry and prose (was that the distinction she was making?) was “essential oil” and “perfume.” That poetry—or some types of prose—was really really densely packed language, no excessive wordiness—“essential oil.” But I have never known how to write anything other than “perfume”—long, watered-down, when-in-doubt-add-more-words. So it’s very possible that this story will be shorter when I get to serious edits—because while I’m invested in plot and character, my own language is becoming horribly dull.

(For what it’s worth, I think you’re essential oil.)

[katajainen]

Oh dear, the dreaded Parts That Go In Between. (I seriously hate writing transitions. Because it always feels like I'm writing stage directions, and that's boooooring.)

On another note, it's interesting how different the process is for different people, because what you said here really resonated:

And as far as length goes: I once had a writing teacher who said the difference between poetry and prose (was that the distinction she was making?) was “essential oil” and “perfume.” That poetry—or some types of prose—was really really densely packed language, no excessive wordiness—“essential oil.” But I have never known how to write anything other than “perfume”—long, watered-down, when-in-doubt-add-more-words. So it’s very possible that this story will be shorter when I get to serious edits—because while I’m invested in plot and character, my own language is becoming horribly dull.

Because I've always scratched my head at the editing advice that says to "cut AT LEAST 15%", because if anything, my drafts tend to get longer in the editing stage. And for me it's the plot that starts to feel dull or bogged down once I get past the 20k mark or thereabouts... I guess sustaining momentum on a longer piece is just *shrug* A Thing That Happens To Other People. (Because I tend to wander off and start another WIP when I get stuck...)

And "essential oil" - in, like "best consumed in veeeeery small doses", right XD (I get the comparison, but sometimes it's really annoying to be a short story writer when I want to write everything. Everything outside the tiny box of the story, that is.)

[roselightfairy]

I can’t help wondering how much of the difference has to do with you writing in your second language. I mean, for me, writing is basically thinking. I don’t feel I’ve really internalized a thought until I’ve put it into words, so a lot of my thinking is just writing more and more. (This story is agonizingly expository; all the character analysis is right there on the page, and a lot of that will probably have to be cut.) But I wonder if you’re a bit more intentional with the language since it’s not your first—and since working with specific meanings of words is what you do for a living: you’re maybe always in that headspace of agonizing over each word? Just a theory.

I totally understand the frustration of wanting to write more. I’m the worst (but probably the only; we must all be like this) kind of writer: I’m jealous of literally every other kind of writer. I’m jealous of those who write more, less, poetry, prose, fluffier, angstier. So I understand any and all writer envy.

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Kick the WIP's butt, I'll hold your flower.

[roselightfairy]

Thank you! <3 <3 I will do my very best.