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Some things I learned when I spent five days reading my 300-page draft out loud (in case it's useful to anybody else): (1/9)
1. I really don't need all those dialogue tags. There are better/more efficient ways of providing the kinds of spatial grounding that I'm almost always after when I use them. (2/9)
2. These words made too many appearances: little, small, delicate, moment, wide, broad, bright, utterly, gnarled, warp, squawk, muffle, wince, teeth, shake, fractured, glance, gaze. (3/9)
3. Apparently, the main way I think people show discomfort is by wincing and/or rolling their shoulders. And nobody ever SEES something, they GLIMPSE or REGISTER instead. Also, no one just drinks their tea (they sip or gulp). (4/9)
4. Speaking of, tea is all anybody EVER drinks. A lot of these interpersonal conflicts would probably be solved if the characters would just hydrate properly. (5/9)
5. I owe apologies to all the people in workshops I've been grouchy at, when they informed me that my sentences were very long. After five days of having to wrap my mouth around them, I concede. (6/9)
6. Little cuts add up. I didn't remove anything more than a paragraph at a time, but the manuscript still went from 106,311 words to 99,982. (7/9)
On the off-chance that you do this as well: drink LOTS of water. (And tea. Careful with the coffee.) Pace yourself. Take breaks. Take notes. Call your friends when you can't stand the sound of your own voice anymore. (8/9)
That's it! I'm so grateful to everyone who's let me bug them this week—and to @SundressPub, whose Firefly Farms residency I've been doing the reading-aloud at! My book is still not good, but it's in a better place than it was on Monday, and that's thanks to y'all. (9/9)
