I am sure I have rattled on plenty of times about my issues with word limits. It means a lot of trimming of the original idea, but every writing advice I've received states "kill your darlings". I don't like it. My novels and stories would never end if I had the choice. But that often drags down the pace and looses a lot of the exciting tension that keeps readers going.
Today's example is a nearly finished short story due by the end of the week. The cap is 4,000, which I just hit. However, there is just one scene left to write. Bryan keeps going back and forth, dancing between arguing with a side character and plunging his blade through a monster's heart. To keep it short, I may have to cut the entire scene I wrote this weekend in half. But what would make a better story? That is the important question.
In my mind, the back and forth was supposed to dig into Bryan's conflict with his desires to follow after his father. This story takes place right before he leaves England, so in the front of his mind he is ready to part with hunting all together. I wanted Bryan to see it would not be so simple for him to walk away, when he knows what he wants deep deep deep deep deep deep down. It was also supposed to introduce more of the Fae Activists. But it does slow down the action. Who really stands around and chats while monsters destroy a drawing room?
Time for rewrites!
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