These are busy times. Readers are busy people. That means you need to write with pace to engage them.
Simply put, the more 'story' you have the faster the 'pace'. It is about picking out what really matters. It means examining everything in your story, and asking if you need it?
For example, find those parts that are passive in the story - told with a lot of 'hads’ - or any description or action that is fairly static and hit the delete button. Or certainly, cut it back.
Find the bits of the back-story - the bits where you feel the need to explain preceding events to the reader - and ask do you need it all?
The writer Rob Parnell says: “So, what defines story? Usually anything that is told in real time - in any tense - about the characters, their actions and some immediate description - that carries the main narrative forward. Everything else is basically fluff - not because it's not important to you - but because it's stuff the reader is not particularly interested in. Readers like a little exposition, a little backstory and a little character development but, if you have too much, you will send your reader to sleep. Focus on story and you'll keep your reader awake at night, turning those pages like it's a veritable bestseller.”
It’s sound advice.
John Dean
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