It is always worth remembering
that 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 - description that is unnecessary, dialogue that
does little, plotlines that you don’t really need, and hit the delete button.
Or certainly, cut it back.
The writer Rob Parnell says:
“So, what defines story? Usually anything that is told in real time 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.”
It’s sound advice. 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 your pages.
John Dean
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