Cutting, trimming, slicing....

Today, one of my revising jobs is to trim down a manuscript that, in revisions, has expanded too much. I gather some authors have trouble with this. Not me, perhaps because I tend to write lean anyway.

Here are my criteria:

I look for small bits that can go, adverbs being a number one target. I keep an eye out for any hint of repetition or redunancy.

I hate cutting dialogue, but I will look to see if a conversation can be condensed.

Description can get slashed. However, it's hard to set a scene without it and I don't write a lot in the first place, so I can't take out too much.

Sometimes two scenes can become one, so I wind up with less description, etc. while delivering the same information.

I try not to cut anything that deals with the characters' emotions and relationship; that's what romance is all about, after all.

Now, I'd better have at it.