Monday, July 26, 2010

Farewell, Dear Friend

This week I had to make a very difficult decision. One of the main characters in my WIP is not living up to the expectations I had for him. His was a grand story filled with self doubt and pity culminating in an action filled scene of heart pounding purple prose.

I have only one small issue. His story is part of the theme, not part of the plot. And so, his grand subplot adventure has come to a halt. My word budget simply isn’t large enough to squeeze him in without diluting the rest of the story or telling his emotional tale with half the words missing.

So farewell, dear friend. May we meet in another book, where I can devote the time you deserve – to tell your story in your own words – to be the man whom you are meant to be.

Q4U:  Have you ever deleted a character from your story?

2 comments:

  1. It happens.

    Characters for me have had larger parts in a story than initially anticpated, and sometimes a character's part ends up on the chopping block.

    They live on within the saved earlier versions, but not in the final version/publication.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sigh. I know this pain all too well. I saw on your profile you are a former Michigan soul as well. I grew up in Traverse City before moving out to the West Coast.

    ReplyDelete

Please play nice with others. Disrespect against any commentor (or me for that matter) may result in deletion of your comment. Disagreements are perfectly acceptable - just keep it civil.