This is KAMWylind, and you're listening to the 94th episode of the Wordplay podcast. This week I charged back into the

outlining fray with my historical work in progress the deepest breath. The first

attack on my battle list was streamlining my heretofore cumbersome backstory and making it as uncomplicated as possible.

Backstories have a way of evolving into the green goo monster until they're so big they try to take over the story itself.

Fortunately, I have killer goo-ninja fighting skills

so I put them to good use kicking out all the extraneous material

that had no good reason to be mentioned in the plot.

The result was the inevitable loss of some chewy bits and scenes,

but already I can feel my story breathing a sigh of relief

that it doesn't have to carry that big load around on its shoulders anymore.

Makes my job a lot simpler too when it comes down to it.

Now I get to move on to the fun job of creating some brand spanking new subplots.

How to bring your writing to life with the telling detail.

The latest post in the video series on my blog explains how, in North and South, Elizabeth Gascal uses a single telling detail to

effectively take the place of a lengthy description. You can watch the video on

my blog at Wordplay-K-M-Y that's W e i l a n d dot blog spot

dot com new videos are posted every Wednesday

meanwhile enjoy this week's podcast.

What is the 50-page edit and why will it rock your story?

Whether or not you edit as you go really isn't the bazillion dollar question.

The real questions you should be asking yourself are,

what's the 50-page edit?

...