By Shayna Krishnasamy

I write long. It’s what I do. My sentences aren’t tight. The meander and go off topic and then veer back. I can make a sentence go on for a whole page. I overuse commas. I love asides and parentheses and em dashes. When I’m writing a first draft, or even a second, I can get a little out of control. And then I have to take out the red pen. That’s when the agony begins.

A big part of being a writer has nothing to do with writing. No, I’m not talking about marketing plans or query letters or blogs. I’m talking about editing, re-writing, re-plotting, and cutting, cutting, cutting. If you write long, like me, the editing process will inevitably involve lots of red ink and teeth grinding and dramatic sighs as you try to wrestle your manuscript into submission. The bad news: It’s very…