Revisions: What Really Matters to the Story

I always get about halfway through my revisions and realize my novel is getting too complicated. I panic and think there's no way I'll get all the loose ends wrapped up by the time I get to the ending.

Part of it is because when I write my first draft, I throw in lots of obstacles for my main characters. The more tension and conflict, the better, right? Maybe not. During the revision process, I need to weed some of them out. But which ones?

One thing that helps me to decide is to think of my novel as made up of  3 or 4 big sections. In each section, there's a task that is going to help my main character reach her goal. After that, I look how the smaller obstacles in that section affect the big task. The only obstacles that matter for the story are the ones that make a difference to the character reaching her goal. 

Another thing I've noticed is that it's easier to build from a simpler framework to a more complicated one. Things get tangled up fast when you're trying to fit together all the pieces of the story. When I stop and look at the "bare bones" of the story, it's a lot easier to see what does and doesn't belong. KISS (keep it simple, stupid) is going to be my new motto for December.