I mentioned an old friend of my main character's. And I only told a short descripion of him....should I remove this?(he really has nothing to do with my story) I don't plan on bringing him up any more....and really it doesn't fit.... Should I write something in it's place to make up for it? Also: I have listed my mc's old pack rules(before she left and became part of a different one) And I think I should remove this as well....it tells about the packs ranks, rules, ect.... Removing all this will leave a big word count gap(most of this is what you all call "filler"...) so should I get a word count of it all and try to write something in it's place to be about the same count?
If something (and a character is a siomething) does not contribute to the story, leave it out. If you already wrote it in, remove it. If your word count comes up short, you need more story, not inert filler. But don't worry about word count until you have finished the draft. You should probably aim for a high word count on the first draft, because if you are doing your job, much of your first proofreading and revision pass will be excising the excess fat.
ok.....I'll keep a mental note of what I want removed but will leave it till I find something to fill it's place....
Just remove it now, so if you have a word count goal you aren't lying to yourself. Writing NaNoWriMo, I stuffed my story with filler and it was driving me crazy - "45,000 words, but I have to delete about half of this anyway..." Now if I think something's junk words I will just take it out so I know what I'm dealing with and don't have to do mental maths and stuff to figure out where I'm at. If you honestly have no purpose for it, why is it still in the story?
I'm fixen to delete a whole chapter? gah... what will I write about? I'm afraid if I delete it it will confuse me so bad....and possibly screw up my book(even though it is junk) Ok it is done now...I deleted the junk now to think of what to write....
In editing and revising, I often find that end up adding to my word count than deleting most of the time. Most of the time, I delete something completely, but find myself expanding on another point or re-wording it better.
I honestly don't think that you should even spend time thinking about word count until you're ready to send it off for editing or beta'ing the final project. Like everyone else said, filler isn't worth your time. If you're going to take the time to write anything, you might as well make it good and retainable. Also, when you edit you're going to be both trimming the fat and finding those places where more detail is needed. When I edit, I normally end up adding a few thousand words on. Take the stuff out that serves no purpose in the great scheme of things and just keep going!
Forget that he's a character. Does that fragment of text add something to the story? Enough for it's size? If it does, forget about removing that fragment and think about how to write it in a way that's more fluid and connected to the story. If the fragment doesn't add enough for the time it takes to read it, remove it. An external (out of the story) character isn't more important than any other stroke of your painting.
Totally agree that it should be dropped. What you need is transition, not filler. If you're spending time describing something extraneous to the actual plot, it needs to go.
My freshman year literature teacher in high school told me the most valuable piece of information I've ever received as a writer - omit needless words, cut out the "filler". I'll never forget the first time I received a corrected essay from the man. It was full of red - a 3 page essay cut down to one page LOL. But now his words stick with me - anything that doesn't help support a point or drive the plot forward (or add to characterization of main characters in some way) should be omitted. I know it's a pain to think about rewriting chapters, and I know this because I'm lazy that way - once I've written something and put work into it, I loathe the thought of having to rewrite or omit it altogether LOL.
@Eurlo - if the continued discussion on your thread is driving you mad, you could always go to User CP and unsubscribe. That way we don't keep flagging this one for you. Even though your particular issue is completely resolved, this is still a good subject for the rest of us to stay on. @Jessica_312 - I think that is one of my biggest writer sins. I have a terrible, god-awful habit of writing things just because it's funny. Then I go back later and realize that while I love what I did there, it's pointless. I do that a lot. Or I let the dialog get away from me. I blame it on the characters.. yeah, that's right. Its their fault! The first novella I wrote ended up just like that - so much red to remove fillers that it immediately fell out of even that catagory, so much of the bulk was removed.