Cutting

One of the odd things about writing a book is that you have to write numerous scenes which won't finish up in the final book. By the time I've finished writing a book I've probably written scenes which, in total, are three times the length of the final book. Sometimes even when I'm writing a scene I know that I'll cut it all out later. But some how it has to be written. A friend of mine who reads for me, and whose views on writing I respect entirely, has an interesting idea about this process. She says that one should never be frightened of cutting entire scenes, chapters or sections out of a book because, even after something has been cut, the shadow of it remains in the book. That's so true. It's impossible to explain how it can be true - but it definitely is - and understanding that makes the cutting process very much less difficult.