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.
5 comments:
I love your ponderings on smallness. So true.
My first novel was small and packed a wallop of a punch. And I loved how I could hold it all in my head. My current in wip is more of a mess. Massive, deep, with numerous threads and currents running through it. I love it, but like you, I'm struggling with cutting it down.
For me, I knew the plot meandered, but wasn't sure what to do about it. It took someone else's suggestion for me to see a way to chop off almost a third of the book. So, no good advice. But perhaps it would be worth sending your wip out into the world, at least to a few trusted crit buddies, and seeing what they say.
Thank you Anne. I keep thinking I should let it go and chalk it up to experience but something in me keeps holding back. Maybe I will ship it out sometime.
Thanks for stopping by.
Or maybe it's your Magna Opus?
I must confess I like small packages that pack a punch. But every work is its own, and this one is not one of those.
I share your fondness for small things. And for years I considered myself a short story writer. I naturally write small (or short). However one day a big(ish) idea convinced me it needed more. And so I'm working on a novel. And struggling to make it longer. Perhaps you just need to share your manuscript with a few trusted readers (who are also ruthless cutters.) I am a firm believer in cutting to strengthen a story. Whatever you do, I hope you don't tuck it away while you still believe in its strengths.
Hi Mirka. I hope it's not my "magna opus" -- that there are better things for me to write somewhere down the path. At least I like to think so, but who knows?
Best of luck with turning your short story into something longer, Inluvwithwords. It takes some courage to pursue it but sometimes you just need to let your gut feeling lead you where it may. I like my WIP too much to hide it away permanently. And I've shared some it with other people but not all it yet. Thanks for stopping by.
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