Trimming off the Fat?

Ok, so after the office party, family gatherings, and other holiday celebrations, people unsnap their pants and put on their sweats to lounge around in and think, "I shouldn't have eaten that last cheese log all by myself."  Hey let's face it, we all face that guilt of over indulging during the holiday season.  Once the season is over, the gym membership becomes activated after several months of no use along with dusting off the old treadmill in the bedroom corner.  Yes, trimming down becomes the goal; however as a writer, coming to that conclusion can be a daunting task.

When writing a story, there are times which trimming away the extra, unimportant, or the non-necessities is essential.  Then at other moments within the story, the extra crispy bacon fat along with the side dish of buttered potatoes is just the right touch.  Yet deciding what extra ingredients make the right combination of sleek muscles and round curve appeal, instead of the nasty cottage cheese fat pockets, can be mind boggling for a writer. 

As writers, we often ask 'what motivates the character' and throughout the story we drop bread crumbs of background information with the sultry details of the hero's past.  Yet as I write, I find myself giving away too much of the goods too soon or not enough at other times, especially during the rough draft stage of the manuscript.  It can be frustrating but with patience, time, and the help from a critique partner, the finished product can have the right balance of everything needed to create a well written story.

So as we continue our writing endeavors, let's not be too hard on ourselves.  We can add and delete and then add some more when needed.  Nothing is written in stone; therefore, it can be changed...until published.  And by then, it's obvious others have found your story included the perfect combination of muscles and fats too.  So don't worry about not fitting into those skinny jeans or filling out that curving dress because it's one size fits all.