Or the reason your readers will be skimming the page. Don’t tell the readers things they don’t need to know. If they don’t need to know them – they don’t want to know them.
The reader wants to reach the ‘pay off’ portion of the scene and they will grow irritated if they have to wait around while the author gives them unnecessary information that only stalls them from getting to what they’re reading for.
Supporting details only.
Yes, sometimes it’s hard to get rid of a beautiful setting description or a momentary exchange of dialogue that is character revealing, but brings the plot to a stand stilling. I’m currently revising my manuscript and editing out unnecessary details is next on the to-do list.
Any tips?
I find the best way is to have someone else read it who is willing to be brutally honest about where they got bored and listless when reading. Finding someone to do that is another matter entirely...
ReplyDeletemood
Moody Writing
I have a file where I save my unnecessary details in case I can recycle them later. It makes it easier to give them the chop!
ReplyDeletePlus one with Mooderino. My husband read my manuscript and told me that I should cut a certain section. I was reluctant too, it was the cleverest part of the book in my opinion. But in the end, I cut it. He was right, it was superfluous. I was too close to see that it was unnecessary I needed someone else to do it for me.
ReplyDeletethis is good advice, I removed a lot of back story that I thought was cool and interesting but I knew it wasn't necessary for the reader to know for the story. That's what you have to ask yourself - is it necessary for the story to explain the details or can you show the info in another way, like with actions and dialog of the characters?
ReplyDeletegood post of advice =)
happy u day (and tag, u r it! visit me if you want to play)
I have a great band of beta readers who tell me things like this. I mean, of course I try to pay attention when I'm writing, and then when I'm doing all of my edits, to the things that are necessary and the things that aren't. There's a lot of cutting of random sentences and paragraphs when they become "blah blah blah" to me. Then my betas get it and I pay attention to what they say. My husband in particular will slash paragraphs/sentences/pages if he becomes bored or thinks something is unnecessary, so I always wait until he pokes holes in my story and pay close attention to what he says--because he is very picky about what he reads and very blunt about what could be fixed. It's the most invaluable thing any writer could have--someone objective who has no qualms about telling you what they think. And I am very fortunate to have a wonderful group of people who will do that for me. (I do think, too, that sometimes this is something you learn more about the more books you write.)
ReplyDeleteNo tips here. It's just that hard. I did, however, on this latest revisions, find it infinitely easier once I got into cut mode. I kept looking at my overall word count and telling myself I wouldn't let the manuscript exceed 80,000 no matter what. It helped me have the incentive to cut. (Don't know what the reward for the incentive is....:)
ReplyDeletethe good thing is that unnecessary details can easily be recycled. I never really throw away anything--instead I keep the unnecessary info i"ve cut in a scrap file for future use.
ReplyDeleteGreat meeting you through the A-Z!
nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
I've been known to go too far in my description and have had to cut it back a bit, particularly with stuff involving cobwebs. I just find those grimy strands fascinating for some reason.
ReplyDeleteIt's a pleasure to meet you via the A-Z Challenge!
WOW - this is all great advice! Thanks guys :)
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you @Jeffrey and @nutschell! *waves*