For novels, it feels a lot trickier (for me)-- I'll usually backtrack to the last "stable" place of the novel, where I feel I have a handle of where to take things. I'll cut all the stuff after that point, as usually it's indicative of major structural issues. - ThreadSky

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spquigley.com • 97 days ago

For novels, it feels a lot trickier (for me)-- I'll usually backtrack to the last "stable" place of the novel, where I feel I have a handle of where to take things. I'll cut all the stuff after that point, as usually it's indicative of major structural issues.

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spquigley.com•97 days ago

That can be rather painful, so I have a "Writing Extras" file where I dump all the stuff that didn't work out. Softens the blow a bit and nine times out of ten, I won't revisit any of the stuff I cut.

spquigley.com•97 days ago

When the blocker's something like a day job, I do think setting the thing aside is the correct approach, though. You kind of need to be steeped in the piece to really make the right judgement call.

michellewitte.bsky.social•97 days ago

That’s a good tactic. Go back to where you know it was working and build from there.

spquigley.com•97 days ago

I do think that, if the writer's goal is to make a story strangers will want to read, the right approach becomes to do whatever consistently puts words on the page. If you squint a bit, chapters are sort of just short stories with context-- not really, but kind of!

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