Items removed from an article after changing the slant

 This time around, I am posting NOTES that I cut from my article research and not my actual writing. While my own notes in parentheses are included, the rest of the writing above those notes is not mine. It is from an article on the Greenwich Library website. The article: “Literary One Hit Wonders (Because the Author Only Wrote One Book!)” 

 

It is just one of the sources that I used for my article “One-Hit Wonders: Authors with Only One Novel Published in Their Lifetime” which was published in the February 2026 issue of First Chapter Plus Magazine. You can find my other sources used at the bottom of the article.

 

Note that the “REASON FOR CUTTING” part under both passages is all my own writing.

 

FROM THE GREENWICH LIBRARY WEBSITE PAGE CITED ABOVE:

 

John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces (1980). Published posthumously over a decade after Toole's suicide, largely due to the persistence of his mother, the book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981. He wrote another novel, The Neon Bible, but neither was published in his lifetime. (NOTE: He wrote two novel-length manuscripts before his death and both were posthumously published.)

 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Shaffer, Mary Ann

Mary Ann Shaffer took on many literary roles in her short life, bookstore employee, librarian, and finally writer. However, this would be th only novel Shaffer completed before an illness took her life. This historical novel uses correspondence between Juliet Ashton and a Guernsey man to create an interesting plot. Perfect selection for book clubs

(NOTE: The novel was co-written with her niece, Annie Barrows. Barrows took over the editing and rewriting of the book following Mary Ann’s death, per the author’s wishes expressed before she passed away.)

 

REASON FOR CUTTING:

I changed the article’s slant to focus on one novel published during an author’s lifetime. Since these two books were published posthumously, I could not include them in my article.

Removing Material from an Article That is Too Long

 I recently wrote an article for the website, Reference.com. Before I get to work writing my articles, I take note of what my word-count limit is. Nothing irritates a client more than agreeing to pay for a 1000-word article and receiving an article that is 2000 words or more – and the writer expecting them to "just trim off what you don't want." That is not your client's job. That is YOUR job! You are the writer with ALL of the information and all of the sources. You need to be the one to decide how much will get trimmed if an article is too long, as well as what exactly will need to be trimmed.

 

In some cases, it can be difficult to figure out what to remove from an article that is too long. This can be a hard decision, as the writer may feel that ALL of the information is important.

 

I was in that "all of the information is important" boat with my article for that site. I was writing about illnesses in bearded dragons and signs to look for if they are sick. I wanted to include as many illnesses as possible. Unfortunately, that meant going over my word count. So I decided one of them would have to go.

 

Unfortunately, I wasn't sure just what I should remove!

 

So I turned to my oldest, who actually has a bearded dragon and who did research on beardies before having one as a pet. He suggested what I should remove and, after removal, my article was once again in the safe zone. Yay!

 

Here is what got cut from my article:

 

A fatal illness

 

Adenovirus infection is a serious infection for bearded dragons and can usually be fatal. Dr. Vickstrom noted, "Sometimes chronic underlying infections, such as occur with adenovirus, predispose a bearded dragon to other illnesses." It is usually referred to as “wasting disease” and is contagious, so an infected bearded dragon should be isolated from other lizards.

 

This infection is caused by a parasite. Good steps towards prevention are to keep your dragon’s enclosure clean, throw out uneaten and old food, and properly disinfect any tools or equipment after each use. Symptoms include weight loss, a prostrate figure, seizures, an arched head or upright tail, uncontrolled rolling and twitching of the toes and tail. Medication can be administered.

https://reptilesmagazine.com/atadenovirus-this-disease-can-be-deadly-to-your-bearded-dragon/  (Source)

 

 

Reason it got cut: “It’s the least common concern out of all the stuff listed.”