I've always respected the fact that stuff must be cut in the editing process. Even if you fell in love with it when you were writing it--and especially if you didn't--some things just must go. They don't add to the story. They actually detract from the story. They just don't fit in the story as well as they should.
And, no matter how painful it is, you must cut.
I haven't done a lot of this, despite the fact that I know it is a fact of a writer's life.
But I am editing my 2007 piece now, and I am cutting a lot. Some of it I don't like, so it's easy. Some of it I do like, and it's harder. But it doesn't fit.
I feel more like a "real" writer now.
