The 10% solution

Some wise sage said that the second draft of a story or novel should end up 10% shorter than the first draft. I’ve never taken that as a rule, but rather as an observation. In my experience, it just happens.

On Sunday I wrote the first draft of a new story that came out at 6600 words, which wasn’t bad since the market I am writing it for stipulates 3500-7000 words. However, after a first round of revisions, it ended up just shy of 6000 words. The 10% solution strikes again. I can’t explain it, and I don’t strive for it. Ten word phrases turn into three word phrases. Paragraphs get deleted, but at the same time new material gets added. A sentence here, a phrase there. So it’s not all about trimming. Still, I invariably end up with 10% shorter second drafts…in fiction, at least.

With non-fiction, those suckers just keep getting longer and longer the more I work on them. I contracted to do 80,000 words for The Road to the Dark Tower, my editor said we should shoot for 90,000 and I ended up submitting 130,000, including footnotes. That was after I cut out about 5-6000 words on my own before I submitted the first draft, words that will end up as a chapbook from Cemetery Dance called The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The interview that I did with a journalist from San Luis Obispo is now online. That’s the one where he had to duck out partway through because of the earthquake. I’m very happy with the coverage he gives to Road and he also got some nice mention from King’s office.

Last night I signed 100 copies of Road for Cemetery Dance. Four big boxes full. More are on the way! Sunday afternoon I sign in Portland, Maine. I’m getting very used to writing my name.