The Fox Knows Fewer Things

I've been putting together a cover order at 100 Covers. But not for the upcoming book. I thought I'd try re-staging the first one and possibly get some attention on the series.

And for some reason the book is very clear in my head at the moment. Okay, might have been I needed to look up her description of her parents for a conversation I was working on for The Early Fox. And I ended up reading straight through from that conversation to the end.

But for whatever reason, I feel like I could edit and it wouldn't even be that hard. Because I'm not thinking about trying to fix everything. I'm just thinking of sanding down a few really high spots.

There's seven I can think of right off the top. That I've been thinking of for a while. One of them that's important for reasons other than there being too much damned stuff.

The lecture on the Acropolis. I was still learning how to write this damned thing, and I was using her having a lot to say as a way to pace the scene and space out other description. I don't need that much padding or space or length. I can happily get to Spooky's dialog faster.

The conversation with the French couple. Alexander and Diogenes is too fun to skip but the whole sequence is too long.

The history discussion at Ariadne's store. It always dragged. Plus, the motivations are wacky and I know enough better know I could clean that up.

Penny's delve into some darker corners of the internet. I've made enough of a point about racist idiots; I don't need to underline them or straw-man them. There's entirely too much in both of these scenes about defending the plot, as well.

The talk with Vash at Oktoberfest. No, it isn't too long. It just kinda sucks and I should be able to write a tighter version.

The lecture about the Hermes of Athens. Just too long and too rambling.

The museum. I love the whole vibe of the scene with Penny running around looking at pots and flirting with Marcos, but she doesn't have to strawman the Dorian Invasion quite so hard. And there's more history here than is really needed. 

And for once, not a lecture; the spinnaker bit in the voyage of the Wanderer. Again I put it in for pacing reasons, but the pacing doesn't actually require it.

And there's quite a bit of trimming and clean-up I can do as well. Funny thing is; I don't expect to lose that many words. If it takes a thousand off I'd be surprised -- and since a lot more of that is in tightening up, I can easily make up that much and more by decompressing some dialog. I can even trade dialog and actual "business" for some of the place descriptions that go on too long.

Did I get that guitarist on the steps of the Acropolis? Because if he isn't there, I could happily add him in now.