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Message: <blockquote data-quote="takyris" data-source="post: 1394903" data-attributes="member: 5171">On a quasirelated note:Just got a response from a SF webzine called Strange Horizons -- they're a good magazine, one of a handful of pro-level ones out there, and they just requested a rewrite on a story I subbed.  It's not an acceptance, but it's far better than a rejection.Here's what happened:1) Showed story to friends.2) Friends said, "Opening is too slow.  Really doesn't start until they get to the windmill."3) Said, "Aha, I will cut the first scene and start the story with them arriving at the windmill, and then I will use asides to give any necessary backstory I might have snipped from the first scene."4) I do so, and submit to the 'zine.5) They mail me back and say, "The first third of it doesn't work -- it's clunky and long.  The second half, and particularly, the last third, are really enjoyable, though.  Can you rewrite to fix that clunkiness, maybe add a bit of background so we know where we are, and can you make it a bit shorter?"6) I realize that in my haste to get this thing out the door, I cut too much, and slamming in the backstory through asides isn't working.  Also, the second scene (now the first scene) is too long, and reads like the second scene of a 4900-word story, not the first scene of a 3800-word story.7) I add a 375-word first scene back into the story, and then I start cutting from the first half.Final Tally:Started: 3800 words (up to 4175 with shortened first scene)Ended: 3600So, jes, while I don't always agree with you, apparently there's room for cutting in a lot of places. At least, provided that this story is as good as it was when it was 1400 words bigger. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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