I have cut from 137.000 words to 97,000. A mere 40,000 words.
I am struggling to further reduce my word count to 85,000-90.000.
I have no intention of cutting more words to reach my target unless I believe it benefits my novel.
Do you have a word count in mind after your last thorough edit.?
Like Johnathan, I start with a word count in mind. I'd rather not go beyond 120k, and I would like to keep in in the butter zone of 110-120k. It'll give me room to fix the gaps and room to cut.
Don't cut if you can't find more to cut. In the end, you'll just end up with a blank page. Where's the fun in that?
I have the opposite "problem".
My current first draft came in at 60k. Reading through it I could see small gaps in the plot, some character development that I could expand upon.
But even then, the whole MS is very tight. The final draft for submission will come in at a little under 80k.
Having said all this, while I was writing it I did not ever think about the word count at all. I had my outline and my plan and I followed this. My main concern was that the story had to flow, the characters had to become believable. If I achieved this then the word count was of secondary importance.
Look at it this way. Hemingway's classic The Old Man And The Sea, comes in at under 50k. Yet it contains everything and the Nobel committee cited this little book as one of the reasons Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize.
So size isn't everything :)
Hi Jon.
I like your target of 100k.
George Orwell said if you can cut a word then cut it.
Every word has to earn its keep.