fat vs. lean

[marycatelli]

Write fat and revise lean.  Which is say, if you know you need one telling detail at one point, but not which of two (or three, or four) telling details is best, write them all.  And when you revise, you can chose which one is best in cold blood.

It is, however, somewhat depressing to realize that sometimes you have to revise fat and then revise again lean, because the critiques complained about not enough of the setting and back story, and it's a little too difficult to juggle figuring out where you could put it and where you should put it at once.  Best to figure out the locations and then chose one.  sigh

Comments

[scbutler.livejournal.com]

"Write fat, revise lean. Which is say, if you know you need one telling detail at one point, but not which of two (or three, or four) telling details is best, write them all. And when you revise, you can chose which one is best in cold blood."

My feeling, exactly.

[marycatelli]

Well, as you master both the telling details and selecting the proper one, sometimes you can juggle them at once. But there's always the fall-back to it when you can't tell.