My writing this week consisted mostly of negative writing in the sense that I took words out of the WIP. That seems to be how it goes. Why? Sometimes I tell the reader too much about characters’ thoughts or motivations when I should be showing. Sometimes a large chunk of action just isn’t working. I throw everything I’ve got into a rough draft and then figure out what I really want to say. Snip. Snip. Snip.

The pruning this week was directed at a submission for a workshop class that I’m taking (Advanced Speculative Fiction). This is my second submission for this workshop (which runs for eight weeks). There are seven other people in the class and everyone is expected to provide feedback (in addition to that from the instructor). For the first piece I submitted, I got a lot of feedback, which I am still sorting through. I want to boil it down to a revision plan and then file it in my revision notes. I try not to revise first-draft chapters of the WIP constantly, fearing that I’ll never make progress on new material. Also, by the time I get to the second draft, a lot of things may have changed. Revision suggestions may or may not be useful in that far future of the second draft.