I finished the first draft of my manuscript (a thriller) two months ago. It was 92,000 words. Then I did a complete edit of the entire manuscript. It was now 96,000 words. Then I did another entire edit of the manuscript. It was now 102,500 words. It became clear to me that what I was calling editing was really more writing than editing. I think I made improvements to the plot, characters, story arc, but I suspect I did not make great strides in terms of editing other than the elimination of typos. Thus, tonight I have started the process of one more full edit, only this time I am not allowing myself to make creative changes. This time all I will do is tighten up the writing. Get rid of unnecessary wordiness. Get rid of crutch words and phrases. Etc. Etc. A nuts and bolts edit. By not allowing creative changes I am finding that it is easier to see excess and clunky/awkward writing in places. This is the first time I am finding the work to be a bit of a grind. It is definitely taking me more time than any of the other stages. That said, I suspect this is a very important part of polishing the manuscript. Besides tightening up the writing, I am hopeful that I get comfortably below the 100,000 word line in the sand that might matter to agents/publishers.
I'm in the process of doing this right now with my current manuscript. I was able to cull about 3,000 words on the first pass and am now on the final pass where I hope to cut at least another 1.000 words before sending it out for beta-ing. It's the most tedious, unpleasant part of writing for me so I feel you. I find myself cutting a lot of over-explanation in the early chapters of things that come out organically later in the book, as well as anything early on that doesn't fit who the characters develop into eventually. It's a slog but very necessary - keep at it!
If you're not in a huge rush for publication, may I suggest leaving the MS alone for ...maybe three or four months? Go and write something else. When you go back to it, the over-writing will jump out at you, and it will be very easy to cull stuff that isn't needed. Furthermore, it will be like decluttering a room of stuff you no longer need or want. You'll end up enjoying the little 'clunk' you get every time something hits the trash bucket! The process won't be painful or dull; it will be pleasurable and exciting, because you'll know you're creating a much better product. I managed to cull over a third of my first draft in my editing process, simply by doing this—and that's after I had to add two new chapters and a few more scenes as well, in the process. But all that over-writing clumsiness jumped out at me after a break. The trick is to get to the point where you have forgotten the writing process, and are now looking at the piece as if it was written by somebody else.
That's good advice. I had not looked at the manuscript for a few weeks before I started this latest tightening edit. I figure it will take me a couple of weeks to complete. After that my plan is to put it aside for 4-6 weeks and then do one final edit of the whole thing before I start the search for an agent. I don't think I have the patience to put it aside for 3-4 months.
The time period I quoted is just an example. What you probably should do it put it aside until YOU can honestly look at it with fresh eyes—however long that takes. And maybe get some feedback from a few beta readers as well, if you haven't already done so. I think the worst possible thing you can do is rush to submit to agents too soon. If you submit stuff that's not quite ready to be published, most agents will reject it. You will have wasted all your writing time—and also wasted a particular agent contact whom you really can't approach again with the same work. I would sincerely suggest that you do develop patience in this matter. Nobody is going to take on an MS from an unknown writer that still needs a lot of work. There is much more to editing than just catching SPAG errors and making cuts to achieve an ideal word count. Take your time. It will pay off. And very good luck in the process!
This!! Pitching too soon very likely cost me a chance to get my historical published. So did buying into the 100K word target. For a first-timer, a much more realistic target is 90K words. It's not that 100K is impossible, but being at the upward limit will likely make many agents back off without giving your work a chance. Keep in mind that your typical successful agent fields about 10,000 queries per year, and only looks at a fraction of them. The rest are bounced or farmed out to interns. One other suggestion. Once you've taken your ms as far as you think it can go, have it appraised by a professional, preferably someone who works in the same genre that you do. I found that helps a great deal. Good luck.
