I cut 8,276 words. You can thank me later, because it was a lot of crap NO ONE SHOULD EVER READ.
And that’s after I added a whole new scene of about 500 words. So I actually cut more than that. Like, closer to 9,000. WHAT. Just what.
I’m doing some final polishing. Easy stuff. I should be done with it in less than a week and be able to send this thing off to my editor for her final pass. Yep, you heard that right. We’re almost there.
Oh! And I saw some shots from the photographer and they are gorgeous. He’s going to reshoot with a slightly different setup and some updated props I made. If the new shots are better than the initial ones I think I just might die. The cover is going to be amazing.
Progress of THE TWO
First Draft: Complete (121,006 words)
My revisions: Complete
Professional editing: Prepping for editor’s final pass
Formatting: Not started
Cover art: Photography for cover art in progress
Kay Camden 
WELL DONE. Cutting is hard — unless it really was crap, it which case it’s kind of a relief, but it’s still embarrassing sometimes. It feels amazing to build it back up.
It really was crap. :)
But you’re right–it does free up room for me to build tension and add detail that would have otherwise bloated it more.
I cut 25% of my first novel out for being crap, inconsistent, or just not working. By the time I was done building it back up, it was almost the same length and far more solid. I think editing is one of the most important parts of writing a story. GOOD LUCK!