Omitting Needless Words

Photo taken by Ville Miettinen

Most of us want to write a novel. Some us may write fro kids while others target young adults. There's a big difference between an easy reader and a YA Fantasy; for one thing; size.
For the most part, we want to end up with a book that's around 250 pages. Which is why its disappointing when the rough draft comes out to be...40 pages, like my first rough draft (In size 12, Times New Roman).
For some, its only too easy to write Above and Beyond the Call of Duty and end up with rough drafts 700 pages in length. (Stephanie Meyer *cough*)
Others have a hard time thinking up enough events. And that's where the trouble begins.
The slower writers feel obliged to add any random scene and long-winded paragraphs, just so they can meet to word count goal. I'll admit, I've done this. But then I stumbled onto the best bit of writing advice I'd ever received:

Cut unnecessary parts...you'll never run out of ideas, so don't be afraid to let go of things.
-Todd Mitchell

And he's perfectly right.
Revision is mostly about hacking your novel to pieces and sewing it back together. Anything that doesn't belong needs to go.
If only it was that simple.
But, like most writers, we get attached. We fall in love with plot, with clever little aphorisms, with characters, with conflicts. And it hurts to let them go.
But let go we must.