Writerly inertia threatened to claim another victim (me) last week, but at nearly the last minute, I lowered my shoulder into that damned boulder and pushed it a little further uphill. And so I can present the following Magic Meter, for the rewrite of “The Winter Palace:”
Take that, writerly inertia.
I’d hoped to cut some of the length, but so far, I’ve actually added to the word count, mostly by adding some setting and character details. Hey, those are good things, right?
We’ll see if I can do better in the second half of the story. There is, as I recall, at least one scene that can be cut, or drastically reduced. Fingers crossed . . .
Oh, and since we’re here, how about a snippet?
She raised the rock above her head and swung it at the protruding stone with all her might. It sank into the wall, and with a low grating noise, a crack appeared, and a hidden door swung inward.
It opened only wide enough for one person to squeeze through. Beyond was a lightless space. A great puff of dusty air escaped, hitting her full in the face, stinging her eyes and making her cough. But even as she covered her mouth, she noted the unmistakable coolness, the faint musty smell.
The coughing fit passed. “Gan,” she whispered. “I found it. I found it.”
Write Club update: Tier one bounce from Arc. Response time, about six weeks.
The battle continues.
