I am editing the first draft of a new Jack Harris novel at the moment and my big preoccupation is pace.

Learning how to write a narrative with the right pace is one of the most crucial writing skills. Get it wrong and you are jeopardising your chances of success. Get it right and you are onto something.

In this case, there are some sections where characters are repeating what others have already said in other passages.

Deleting some lines has removed such sections, eradicated the slowing of pace that they caused and kept the narrative going. Thus (hopefully) keeping the reader interested.

Making such cuts may be painful, given how much effort went into writing the scenes in the first place, but it is a crucial process for any writer. The difference between success and failure.

It probably means that, at the end of the edit, I will have to replace 2,000 words to retain the novel’s length but they’ll be a better 2,000 words than the ones that were there.

Views: 21

Add a Comment

You need to be a member of John Dean Crime Novelist to add comments!

Join John Dean Crime Novelist

Latest Activity

John Dean posted blog posts
yesterday
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
yesterday
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
yesterday
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Friday
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Mar 22
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Mar 22
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Mar 22
John Dean posted a blog post

An exciting character

Author Ian Robinson has a new crime novel out - and it’s attracting plenty of glowing reviews. Criminal Justice (The Book Folks) introduces undercover police officer Sam Batford, a man who walks the narrow line between successful detective and corrupt cop. The novel sees him sent to work with a serious crime team in London in an investigation which sees him play the good…See More
Mar 22
Tom Southern is now a member of John Dean Crime Novelist
Mar 14
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Mar 13
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Mar 13
John Dean posted a blog post

Authors highlight different ways of starting to write a book

I have just started writing my next crime novel and I have more time to concentrate on it now that Kirkcudbright Book Week, which I help organise, has come to an end for this year.In fact, the subject of how best to begin a story cropped up during Book Week, not least when I chaired an in-conversation event at the Selkirk Arms, featuring crime writers Traude Ailinger,…See More
Mar 13
Ann Bloxwich updated their profile
Mar 7
Ann Bloxwich is now a member of John Dean Crime Novelist
Mar 7
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Feb 27
John Dean posted a blog post

Tackling the dreaded blank first page

 I am working on a new DCI John Bizzard crime novel for my publisher The Book Folks, and that means being faced with the dreaded blank first page.So, how do writers get going under such circumstances? How do they start writing their story? Well, in this hectic world, I have always felt that there is a lot to be said for holding back and allowing myself a little time to…See More
Feb 27

Videos

Members

© 2024   Created by John Dean.   Powered by

Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service