Revising

Can I cut this scene?

Hmmm. What is its purpose?

Well…we haven’t seen this character for awhile. I don’t want the reader to forget about him.

Does it move the story forward?

It refers to events in the previous scene and has a kind of funny moment.

And?

Um, no. It doesn’t really add anything. But wait! Maybe I can revise it to reveal something about the character in question. > > > Hmmm. Not sure that helped. Plus, I’m trying to trim the manuscript, not add to it. Ugh! I hate this! Oh, alright. I’ll delete it.

_____

Wait! Maybe I can salvage the scene.

…

Okay. You win. It’s gone.