This is K.M. Wyland and you are listening to the 325th episode of the Helping Writers Become Authors podcast.

December was so crazy with the launch of my aviation adventure novel Storming and Christmas and Star Wars that I decided to give

myself a short break before diving into the editing on my historical superhero novel,

Wayfair. I typed the final words in the first draft is days after

storming launched so I feel like I've barely had time to process the fact that I

did finish it. But now that January has rumbled into the station, I'm itching to get

back to work on it. My first major goal on this round of revisions is to trim upwards of 80,000 words which is almost half the current length.

Ouch! Can you say long-winded?

A reader on Twitter had the awesome suggestion. Can You Say Long Winded.

A reader on Twitter had the awesome suggestion to try to cut at least one word from each sentence.

I'll also be focusing on filler words like that, as well as phrases like sat down instead of just sat or

stood up instead of just stood they're both easy ways to trim a surprising

number of needless words so wish wish me luck. And now I hope you enjoyed this

week's podcast entitled The Re-Readability Factor. Does your story have it in

five ways to make it happen. When I was a young

leader I had a horrendously bad habit. Whenever I started a new book I would

systematically read the front cover the back cover the front matter the back matter the back matter and then the final line of the book I know anathema. I clearly remember the day I swore never to do this

again. I was around 14 years old, curled up on the window seat in my parents' room, avoiding company so I could start the third and final book in

Timothy Zand's original Star Wars trilogy.

I did my usual routine, then flipped to the back and read the final line.

Immediately, it made me want to bang the book against my head.

Why had I just done that?

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