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Reader's Forum » General Topics » What to do when book is too long?
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April 6, 2022 at 02:26 pm Reply
JadeWhat do you do? Does this even ever happen to you? I am joining a writing contest, and I am afraid my work will be too long because I've already planned so much for it!
Be blessed,
Jade
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April 6, 2022 at 04:54 pm Reply
Gordon Kormanobject(stdClass)#893 (23) { ["ID"]=> string(5) "20103" ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2022-04-06 16:54:14" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2022-04-06 16:54:14" ["post_content"]=> string(744) "Hi, Jade,
This doesn't happen to me, largely because I've been at it for so long that I know my story will end up somewhere between 180 and 220 pages, or thereabouts.
IF it did happen to me, I would scale back my plans. A story that tends to wander, or to have too much going on, can be more depressing than anything else. Your contest must have a guideline as to length. Be ruthless. Make it fit.
On the other hand, WAR AND PEACE (Tolstoy) had 1,225 pages in its first edition, and it was great! So what do I know, right? -----GK-----
" ["post_title"]=> string(5) "reply" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(10) "reply-5553" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2022-04-06 16:54:14" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2022-04-06 16:54:14" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> string(5) "20102" ["guid"]=> string(49) "https://gordonkorman.com/uncategorized/reply-5553" ["menu_order"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_type"]=> string(5) "reply" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" }Hi, Jade,
This doesn't happen to me, largely because I've been at it for so long that I know my story will end up somewhere between 180 and 220 pages, or thereabouts.
IF it did happen to me, I would scale back my plans. A story that tends to wander, or to have too much going on, can be more depressing than anything else. Your contest must have a guideline as to length. Be ruthless. Make it fit.
On the other hand, WAR AND PEACE (Tolstoy) had 1,225 pages in its first edition, and it was great! So what do I know, right? -----GK-----
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April 11, 2022 at 12:46 pm Reply
Jadeobject(stdClass)#892 (23) { ["ID"]=> string(5) "20115" ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2022-04-11 12:46:39" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2022-04-11 12:46:39" ["post_content"]=> string(62) "LOL. Thanks, Gord. (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!)
" ["post_title"]=> string(5) "reply" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(10) "reply-5559" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2022-04-11 12:46:39" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2022-04-11 12:46:39" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> string(5) "20102" ["guid"]=> string(49) "https://gordonkorman.com/uncategorized/reply-5559" ["menu_order"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_type"]=> string(5) "reply" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" }LOL. Thanks, Gord. (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!)
