Why, As Writers, Do We Cut the Things We Love?
The article explores the concept of ephemera in writing, detailing how certain beloved elements are often cut from drafts. It emphasizes that while these details may seem unnecessary, they play a crucial role in character development and storytelling. Ultimately, the author argues that the process of cutting is essential for crafting a coherent narrative.
- ▪Ephemera refers to details and minutiae in writing that are often discarded during the editing process.
- ▪These details can illustrate a character's inner life and contribute to significant plot developments.
- ▪The act of cutting is portrayed as a necessary part of the writing process, despite the challenges it presents.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Here are a few details from past drafts of my latest novel that ended up on the cutting room floor: the family babies, a brother-and-sister duo marooned from their older siblings by an age gap, branch off from their folks, who run a Reagan-era discount chain, to open a survivalist superstore (tagline: “It’s closer than you think!”). Years before, at age nine, the sister monkeys around the periphery of her parents’ high-pressure party, gets drunk, and throws up (okay, I appreciate the wisdom of editing a tanked third grader out of my manuscript); incensed by her brother’s ire, she punches him and cries out that he’s “an old shit-ass bag.” And at one point, there was an entire point-of-view that didn’t make the final edit: that of the matriarch’s love interest, a pretty, practical woman who…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Literary Hub.
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