There's something to be said for keeping things small. Small is manageable. Whether it's a short story, a painting, a drawing, a musical group or even a song, if you can keep it small you can easily hone the quality of your work. If I'm working on a big painting with lots of objects, almost invariably something happens. The pears will begin to rot, the set-up gets nudged and one of the objects breaks. Ugh. Yes, I guess that can happen with a small still life set-up, too, but it's much more likely to happen with a cumbersome one.
Likewise, a small garden is easy to keep weeded. A small meal doesn't take long to prepare. A small novel takes less time to write than a long, rambling one and is easier to plot. It also takes less time to read (although if I'm enjoying the book I want it to go on and on). A small house is easier to clean, as long as you don't try to cram too many things into it.
Small things often make up for their diminutive size by packing more punch. Small sentences consisting of a word or two often say more than long ones. I mention all this because I have a novel I've worked on for some time now and it's grown far too long. I have trouble wrapping my head around it or knowing what to cut. What do you do with a novel that has grown too large? It's like a garden choked with big weeds and unidentifiable species of plants - well, almost. Any suggestions? Ideas? I'm thinking of tucking it away for a few years while I continue with another project, but man, I'd sure like to ship it out some time. I actually like this novel. I've lived with my MC so long that's she's like a dear friend I don't want to abandon.
Perhaps some novels were never meant to be published. I guess I could consider this one an exercise in writing or think of it along the lines of a musical etude - something you do for practice. If anybody has any suggestions, I'm wide open. Otherwise, this one will get buried in my underwear drawer with other small things.
