Slash and burn

During my first serious editing pass on “Beyond All Doubt,” I reduced the text from over 8200 words to just under 6500. Over 1/5 of the original words, gone. Once I started cutting, it got easier. Entire sentences. Paragraphs. If it didn’t contribute to the story—if it was just interesting research that I wanted to get in—away it went. The story is getting leaner by the moment. So, for those of you who word count as a sign of progress, my output for the weekend was -1700.

I finished After Dark by Haruki Murakami last night. I’m still not sure what it’s about, but elements of it reminded me of The Night People by Jack Finney, though it’s not quite as light hearted.

We watched Night Listener starring Robin Williams this weekend. I read the Maupin novel several years ago, and the movie sticks pretty close to the book’s story, though it reveals information in a different sequence. I read an interview with Maupin where he discusses how the novel is based on his real-life multi-year experience with someone with factitious disorder (Munchausen by ventriloquism, Robin Williams called it). A decent movie, enhanced by the presence of Toni Collette.

I also got caught up on my taped TV shows, and watched the three latest episodes of Doctor Who: Gridlock, Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks. Gridlock had a neat premise, and it was good to see the Doctor in America, with an interesting twist on the Dalek story. I find it interesting that, after six episodes, I still have difficulty remembering Martha’s name. Though she’s interesting enough, strong and resourceful, I miss Rose and her mouthful of marbles accent.

Amazing Race didn’t end quite as I hoped, but at least Myrna and Charla didn’t win. Danielle was responsible for the victory, I’d say. She gave them the lead they needed by solving the lockbox problem. It almost always comes down to a puzzle in the end. A good season, all in all. That they were all-stars didn’t play into it so much once Rob and Amber were gone.

I wonder how many season finales will feature gunshots. It was an epidemic last year, and Cold Case set the bar for this year’s finale with two.