Hi! Do you have any tips for speeding up the beginning of a book without getting rid of important scenes? I also have lots of trouble getting rid of scenes i just really like that aren’t important to the plot.
A variety of fix-its for a slow beginning:
Introduce the plot in the first paragraph or chapter. Anything from a big event to a little hint, just something that gets things started.
Spread out important world building or introduction scenes so they don’t create an infodump (it’s actually better if the reader doesn’t know everything about the world/characters yet).
Likewise, trim boring but crucial scenes down to fewer words and sentences so you can get to the meat of the book faster. Or just make them interesting, but that requires extra skill and can be done later.
Take the parts you like, but that are not useful right now or don’t have a good reason for being there and copy them into a separate file. That way, if you ever do find a good spot for them– either in this story or the next one– they’ll be handy.
If a sentence or paragraph is not working, cut out the part you like best (i.e. the part you’ve been working around). The writing will suddenly be easier to manage and sound better.
Don’t avoid removing something just because you like it. If it’s compromising your ability to write, cull it and move on.
Focus on the theme of your story. If anything interrupts that theme in the beginning, the theme is crippled for the rest of the story.
Read everything out loud. If it sounds dry, long, or repetitive, cut it. Alternately, go to TTSReader and have your writing read back to you. It does not keep your writing, it just reads it to you.
