Cut. It. Out.

Learned something monumental today...a cut file works! I heard a seasoned writer talk about keeping an extra document where you can move words and save them. Thank God I had one of these! I was editing my story last weekend and this morning and noticed missing chapters. I finished editing a chapter and started on the next one and realized they were out of order or something.

Frankly, it scared the hulu out of me today. I thought I had accidentally deleted a chapter or two. For some reason I decided to check my other doc, the cut file for this particular book and bam! There they were. Two chapters I decided to remove earlier.

As soon as I saw them I knew why I had removed them. However, I was able to salvage at least one whole chapter with a few minor rewrites and insert it back into my book. Whoop, whoop! I was so relieved to solve the mystery I created for myself.

In short, make a cut file for every project and remove any text you are iffy about but don't get rid of it. It may come into play at a later date. Plus, you can list out details about your character and keep it updated as you write and edit. It helps you keep track of any changes you make. Takes some pressure off your memory!