Catching Up, Caterpillars, & Condensing

The tooth pain is entirely gone now, a massive improvement from a few weeks ago. I've started writing and revising again, as it's actually possible to concentrate on things now.

It's springtime here in Texas, and the caterpillars are starting to emerge. I snapped this picture of one moving along a sidewalk at about 4 AM.

My current round of novel revisions is mostly focused on line edits that condense sentences, paragraphs, and ideas into something more concise and impactful. I've been slightly surprised at how much I can condense in a chapter and simultaneously improve my writing.

Care for a writing exercise? Below is an extremely (intentionally) wordy sentence. How would you condense it to improve it? There isn't a single right answer to this, as it is an art form.

In the dim and melancholic embrace of an ancient, ivy-enshrouded castle, a desolate princess found herself ensnared within the oppressive confines of a soaring turret, her heart burdened with an overwhelming sense of sorrow and despair as she gazed wistfully out of her slender, barred window, dreaming of the elusive liberty that sprawled tantalizingly beyond the impenetrable stone walls that held her captive.

What's New?

• Tooth pain is gone! Yay! I'm now playing catch-up on novel revisions.
• Upcoming Into Horror History: A blacksmith who tricked the trickster.