So I see a lot of posts in the writing community about having to make massive cuts to their work because they wrote too much. Which is a very desirable problem to me because I have the exact opposite problem. I finished the first draft of my Work In Progress and it clocks in at 31,000 words. Not exactly a novel. Not even a novella, really.
I think the main problem is that I am a very ‘to the point’ writer. I have a hard time with those moments in between the scenes where the magic happens. Where truly great authors take exposition to the next level and create worlds that suck a reader into the story. Not to say that my books aren’t good. I just want to keep honing my craft and become the best I can be (insert Pokémon theme song here).
Sadly, I feel like I’m the only one who has this problem. Whenever I ask for advice on the subject I get confusion from the writing community. “You have too few words? Man, I wish I had that problem!”
No you don’t. It sucks.
What I really need is a good subplot to help fill in the blanks of the world I’m trying to build, without bogging it down with unnecessary filler. Easier said than done.
If any other writers out there are similarly afflicted by a tiny word count let me know so I know I’m not alone!
UPDATE: While I feel like Will Smith in I, Robot when it comes to my WIP Skye (the 30k WIP), I did get a taste of what it is like to have to cut down. I wrote this in October and, On October 9th, I got a request for a Full manuscript for Seer. The only catch? It had to be 100k and, at the time, it clocked in at 107k. Still not sure how I did it but I managed to cut 7k words in 2 days.
Bye for now