Editing for length? You should be so lucky!
Instead, you’re earning the “padding” merit badge by stuffing your manuscript full of extra words wherever you can to meet a minimum count.
Let’s see… you’ve added a scene painstakingly describing your hero’s process of picking out what to wear in the morning, details on the heroine’s complete family tree going back eight generations, and a recipe for brownies that really doesn’t have anything to do with the plot. Think anyone would notice if you started typing “blah blah blah” for a few paragraphs in the middle of Chapter 21?
Part of the merit badges for writers series. The badge may be posted on your site or blog. Tell us why you’ve earned (or will never earn) it in the comments.
6 Comments
I love it!!! I had to do soooooo much of this when I was in school – STupid minimum word counts *grumblegrumble* I CAN SAY WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID IN A LOT FEWER WORDS THAN THAT!
Fortunately, when it comes to my WIP’s, it’s just that I tend to leave out story… so then I have to go put it back in. A lot. Create new scenes, add dialogue… who am I kidding. I’m padding. *gives up and wails*
Thanks for the badge, Em!
One year for NaNoWriMo, I finished the story at about 49,500 words. I added an epilogue and still came up short… so then my main character’s cat had kittens. And I named all of them. With multiple-word names like Sarah Joe Kitty Face.
I finally hit exactly 50,000, submitted & verified, and basked in the glory of winning.
I also once had a character go to a concert. The band was called the Mighty Handed Octahedron Group, and they were like a combination of the Blue Man Group, the Polyphonic Spree, and a heavy metal band. And they wrote songs about sunshine and puppies. And I included some examples. Those were some pretty great songs.
I wonder what percentage of wordcount-padding in this country is directly due to school assignments and NaNoWriMo?
Gotta be a lot.
Yes, this is me. I’m a master of what my friends call “condensed soup writing”, so I have to add a LOT of “water” to make the story long enough.
So I’ve won this badge so many times. Thank you school. And WIP. When you “finish” a YA fantasy novel and it’s 45,000 words, there is much padding to be done.
P.S. I just discovered your blog thanks to Janet Reid, and I love it. The badges are awesome! Also, Em, you are quite hilarious. I’ve been laughing all day reading your badge descriptions.
hm… does describing the contents of a package from MC’s mother using four and a half pages count?