The Final Cut

Usually authors find it extremely unsettling & sometimes impossible to be their own critic. They re-read, write, re-read & write again until they accumulate enough writing material for not one but several novels.

How does one know when enough is enough and when to step away? Or when do you look and say "This needs to go." We stopped to ask our CEO & Award winning Author, Aminah Iman her techniques on removing & including material into her final draft on one of her many works and here is what she had to say.

"Ahem, I usually. after the 100th read see how the story flows. I try to see if I have given too much formation and I take it out. No one needs to know what color of his socks or what scent his aftershave is. So I usually save a good amount of room for that action scenes of dialogue "

The real issue isn't necessarily you, it's your creative mind trying to work overtime and settling it to a certain mission or goal can definitely narrow your readers in on the purpose of your story.

"Exactly, for example when writing Apocalypse the main goal was the show the battle, to show how both sides come and work as a team and fight the enemy. So to me it was less important that Cleopatra dressing in all black opposed to her charging after Jacqueline and suspending her in mid air. "

So when it comes to what to take out, before the pesky deadline, be sure that all the material is what makes the story the story before second guessing anything else about your read.

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