Most of what I draft is a conceptual placeholder–in one of my books, I cut out 67% of the drafted material, going from 435k words to 143k words. In the first draft, there’s some gems here and there, but it’s mostly just dirt that keeps the gems in place, and highlights their shine so I can build substance around them.
I liken it to a stew that I slowly thicken, ingredient by ingredient. At first it’s some chunks of this or that. Then I add a spice here, some starch there, exhaustively rearranging and messing with the rhythm. As it continues building and thickening, I keep adding things in bit by bit (and cutting a disproportionately greater amount of material away), until I’ve done the best I can, and I risk spending eternity obsessing over differences between things like “then” and “and then.” At that point, it’s ready to be served and it’s no longer mine. It’s the reader’s to do with as they wish.
I hope in some cases, my story might inspire a reader to write their own, just as I was inspired by things I read when I was younger.
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