The Art of Expansion

This is a subject that I suspect I will be dwelling on for quite some time. In my editing/rewrites, I have found quite a number of scenes which require a good deal of changing. This is all as a result of having expanded the history of my setting and characters through the short stories. The changes are nothing drastic to the plot, but merely proving extra layers.

I've already touched on the way I rewrite a few times here. It's not nearly as tedious as it sounds. Though, I have developed a habit Tolkien had for most of his life. He tended to rewrite, and rewrite constantly. But each time, he started over from the beginning. It's why there are so many variations of tales in his history of Middle-Earth. Many are not even finished.

While Tolkien is my hero and inspiration, I do not want to fall into some of the same issues he had. First, I refuse to allow myself to leave work unfinished any longer. I already have too much of that. If I have to rewrite or change something, I try to limit myself to restarting at the beginning of that scene. This is only after trying to go in and tweak line by line.

I am also trying to condense my various drafts into one. There are quite a number of tales where length requirements required me to make a lot of cuts. I always save each version, but then review them all when trying to rework a story. My current project is seeming to require me to start from the beginning just because it's been through so many changes. But more on that later.

The other danger of expansion is simply padding on scenes and words to fit a minimum length requirement. You have to make every word actually count for the story and the characters. This might limit your market of submissions, but it's worth it. I had actually been in touch with an editor that I thought would be a good fit for one of my steampunk novellas. Even though she liked the pitch, she said they simply could not accept it because of the length. She and I both agreed adding a few thousand words would not be the right choice, and I would have to carry on the search.

On the same note, this is why I want to stop finding a market and then writing. It's really putting a limit and strain on the Muse. Write first, then find a publisher. It's what I used to do, and want to want to get back into. The work itself should come before all else. And if that doesn't work, there is always self publishing!