Why packing is like revisions

By: Meradeth Houston on 3:31 PM

I'm currently living in a small sea of boxes. Seriously, who thought two people in a very small apartment could accumulate so much junk? I didn't think it was possible! But as I slowly sift through my belongings, I'm filling up bags of things to take to the local goodwill to donate (hubby is so proud, haha!), right along side the boxes that are being crammed into our storage unit. Anyhow, because I'm also currently sneaking in a few minutes here and there to work on revisions on my wip, this has me thinking: packing up my belongings is a lot like what I'm doing on my manuscript. I find myself asking a couple of questions on every item that I handle, much like ever detail and sentence in my book:

-Do I need this right now? Yes? Then keep it. No? Put it in the 'maybe' pile (or in the file of things I've cut from my wip that I may want later).

-Will something else not work without this? (Like accidentally packing my phone charger--um, yeah, makes things a little hard!). Also, omitting that scene where I introduce a vital character means I've got to insert him/her elsewhere.

-Am I just keeping this for silly reasons? Yes, I get emotionally attached to certain scenes, and certain junk. Some of it I keep. Some of it I'll delete later, when it's easier :)

So, for those of you digging into revisions right now, what kinds of questions do you ask yourself while reading through?

Back to the boxes for me!