You've sent off your manuscript to the publisher.
The publisher wants to publish it.
Except you have to cut 30,000 words.
Where do you start?
The easy pickings involve eliminating block quotations, retaining only the parts that are pure gold.
Then you have to see if there are elements such as exposition that can be condensed into tables, or nostalgic postwar humor that can be eliminated.
Go over your work sentence by sentence and see if words, particularly adverbs and adjectives, can be cut. One need not state a soldier's rank except when it changes. Sentences may have to be entirely restructured.
Minor figures may have to be dropped.
Anecdotes that do not get to the heart of the matter can go.
Examine your footnotes and determine if they can be shortened.
The publisher wants to publish it.
Except you have to cut 30,000 words.
Where do you start?
The easy pickings involve eliminating block quotations, retaining only the parts that are pure gold.
Then you have to see if there are elements such as exposition that can be condensed into tables, or nostalgic postwar humor that can be eliminated.
Go over your work sentence by sentence and see if words, particularly adverbs and adjectives, can be cut. One need not state a soldier's rank except when it changes. Sentences may have to be entirely restructured.
Minor figures may have to be dropped.
Anecdotes that do not get to the heart of the matter can go.
Examine your footnotes and determine if they can be shortened.
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