Deleted Material
After you’ve finished your first draft, you may decide it is too long and start cutting scenes, and maybe even whole sub-plots. Do you preserve this material, or do you stuff it into the bin without reservation?
Some writers save several (or many!) versions of their work, thereby preserving previous sections. Along that line, some authors email their book to themselves every night. This also guarantees an earlier (or the current) version isn’t lost.
It might be better, though, to place the cut sections into a separate document where you can easily find them. After all, they might fit in beautifully (with a little tweaking) with the next book you write, or in a sequel to the current book! Some authors say they keep a separate folder on the computer for each book, where everything pertaining to that book can be found, so they store it there. If you’re semi-organized but not quite that organized, you could use the title of the book and the word “Deletions” at the end.
In the previous article, “Character Profiles” (101:59), I talked about character sketches and putting your characters into funny or extreme situations to see what they would do. Consider hanging onto this material, too, in some manner, even if that specific character is ultimately not used in the book. He or she might be just who you are looking for in another book.
So now you have all this saved material that you may or may not use on a sequel or another book. Is there any use for it right now? Yes!
Fans would love to see it on your blog, either as additional history/background information on your characters, or a “what if this had happened instead?” scenario, or an alternate ending. And readers who haven’t purchased your book yet may be drawn into the story and the characters—so this is a good marketing tactic. Just be sure you don’t use, or reveal, anything that would spoil a sequel.
We’re Dun for today, so keep on Writin’!
Next week we’ll discuss ‘Passive Voice versus Passive Verbs’
Susan
To see the index and catch up with missed episodes of this series – CLICK HERE
NOTE:
This series is not meant to be (nor will it be) simple static information.
I’ll be here for each post to answer questions, offer suggestions as necessary, and interact with you.
If there’s something you specifically want (or need!) to see addressed in terms of self-editing, please let me know in the comments under this, or any of the articles of the series.
EDITING – NON-EDITING – BOOK FORMATTING
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Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 
I keep files of deleted material. I know I will never need them, but it’s comforting to know they’re not completely gone. LOL
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You’re not alone, Juli! 😀
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Had a stroke a bunch of months ago…still recovering data that has seeped through my Swiss cheese brain as a result.
A reminder of the most logical of advice is always welcome, especially at this stage of my recovery, wherein I’m trying to get back to writing. Great post…..have Pressed it!
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I’m glad you found it helpful! I’m sorry about the stroke. There is an author on LinkedIn with a similar experience who has persevered! ((((hugs))))
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Hi Susan! I realize this is 3 months late (schedules? what are schedules?!!) in replying, but thank you for commenting ☺️
You mentioned an author on LinkedIn pushing through a similar issue – – might I inquire the name? pleeeeeze?!
Yours – Pearl
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Hi Pearl, I’ve forwarded your comment to Susan 😃
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Thanks!
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I don’t have permission to share his name, Pearl, but I’ll contact him and ask. 🙂
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Thank you, Susan. It’s difficult at times to stay focused and maintain the determination needed to push through. It’s been a little over a year and, while I’ve had many successes with finding my “used to be”, the longer it takes to regain the me that once was, the more discouraged I tend to get. Any inspiration from someone who “gets it” can only help.
Yours – Pearl
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Hi Pearl! He said yes. His name is Philip Catshill, This is his LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipcatshill/ and he said to me, “it is no secret as the strokes are mentioned on my LinkedIn profile, my website, and my book “Never say I Can’t” which is a memoir relating to my first stroke and the eighteen months it took to return to duty as an operational police officer.” I hope that helps, Pearl! 🙂
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Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio.
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Thanks for your support, Don 😀
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You’re welcome.
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Ma’lumotlaringiz uchun tashakkur! 😀
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Salomat bo’ling
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Lots of great advice thanks for sharing. 🙂
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You’re welcome, and thanks for letting me know you found it useful! 😀
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Great idea about mailing our work to ourselves. I keep all my deleted scenes in a separate folder subheaded under the novel title. I’m a geek that way lol.
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Geeky organization rules! ❤ ❤ ❤
(You should see how many nested levels of organization in my folders I have… *sob*)
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Love it 🙂
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I love the organization, but not the levels. Every couple of years I try to figure out a way to do it better (and/or simpler), but it rarely works! 🙂
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I do too every so often and think the new way is working only to go back to the old way. lol 🙂
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Good advice!
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Thank you, Traci! 😀
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Some great ideas here Susan. I’d never thought about emailing our work to ourselves nightly. But I learned long ago, to send my work to the cloud. 🙂
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Good idea, Debbie, but don’t rely on the cloud alone!! While emailing yourself the file also relies on a cloud of some sort, it’s a different cloud. Multiple backups are always a good idea. 😀
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Oh yes, and no worries. I’m on it! 🙂
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