What Are You Holding Onto …
Me and Diesel, my first dog love, about 2008
… that helped you bring your story to life?
A character? A scene? A plot element? An opening line?
Do you hold onto that bit because you know it’s absolutely essential to your story? Or do you hold onto it because you love it? Or some other reason that you can’t necessarily articulate?
And does your story still need it?
It’s really hard to let go of a piece of a story when it feels like a necessary ingredient. It’s also hard to see by yourself when that ingredient is no longer necessary, even if/when removing it will make your story stronger.
Here’s an example.
My middle grade dog novel is written mostly in first person, present tense from a dead dog’s point of view. In early drafts, I also had a few short notes dropped into the story written by a human girl to her deceased dog. I also had a few chapters in third person, past tense from another dog’s point of view.
Pretty obvious what needs to come out, right?
But I am stubborn. For the longest time, I thought I needed those pieces.
Until finally this summer, I asked my faculty reader at Highlights’ Whole Novel Workshop about them.
Me: What about the mix of short third-person scenes from Birdie’s POV and the few short letters from Zoey? Do they add dimension to the story or do they feel like a distraction?
Crystal: I didn’t like it. I wanted to stay in the story with no unnecessary distractions. When reading, I always wonder—did this have to happen? Did that need to have been done that way? Does it distract from the story? Is the story still rhythmic or did I lose the rhythm with the change?
The notes were easy to cut, the Birdie scenes, not so much. I held onto them until very recently. Finally I realized that Birdie’s scenes had important info that I could weave into my main character’s scenes.
Originally, Birdie’s scenes helped me know what she was thinking and doing when she wasn’t with Chester. But the scenes themselves aren’t needed for the reader’s experience of the story.
What story elements are you holding onto that have served their purpose but which you can now let go of?