I really do love words, and morass is one of my favorites, along with synergy, green and o'hia. I've been wrestling my new story into submission-shape, and for a person who leans toward huge, unwieldy plots, I'm not so much writing as cutting.
So far I've cut fifty percent of the back story, eighty percent of the villain, consolidated a "cast of thousands" into an Harlequin American-style setting detail, and simplified my plot to three sentences. It's like sculpture. The only way to see it clearly is to keep removing extra material until the form shows through.
It's a totally different style of writing. Series romance is hard because it's character driven in the truest sense of the word. The minimalist plot isn't enough to hide behind. Motivation and logic play a big part. It's a fast read because it goes from point A to point B with no stops in between.
...betrayed into captivity, Damien Warwick is back for revenge. There's only one catch...
6 comments:
I like the word morass because when I first see it I think it says molasses.
lol, I think I like it for the same reason. It's sticky, and I think of molasses chips from See's.
DH has lots of family in Ohia. Last time we were there we went to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
Sorry, couldn't resist. I liked the analogy to sculpture, very much like King's to digging out a fossil.
Glad things are moving for ya!
I'm in the middle of the same process on one of my Regencies right now. The sucker is well over 100,000 words long. I'm shooting for 80,000 but so much of it was barely sketched in. Entire plot elements have to go. The problem is every time I cut one, the fleshing out of something else fills the void.
You sure sound like you know what you're doing. Wish I were as decisive and didn't so often start with too little rather than too much.
Morass makes me think of crevasse; I guess there's danger of disappearing into either and never returning. Makes life exciting, right?
Hi Deanna, I think everyone likes morass. And I'm not decisive, just...very pragmatic. And sometimes the pragmatic part of me has to wait on the this is what I want to do part.
I know what you mean, Alice. *it's hard*
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