TECH: the parts readers skip?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 19 March 2009

"My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: when you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip." Elmore Leonard

In Writer's Digest, March 2006, the Fiction Essentials column by Nancy Kress has the title "Better Left Unsaid." The subtitle points out, "Know what to leave out of your tale to keep your stories lean and, ultimately, more satisfying."

Nancy suggests four keys to leaving out the parts that readers skip. "Besides a careful blend of elements in your writing, successful fiction also requires a strategic approach to what you leave out of the story." Avoid expository openings, descriptive repetition, explanatory dialogue, and Aesop's tales moralizing.

1. Nix the exposition at your start. Readers like to start in the middle of something interesting, then watch that unfold. That's a dramatized scene, with characters talking and doing things. Skip the explanations of how they got there -- you can explain that later if you need to. Think about how to show your points through thoughts, dialogue, and actions.
2. Let the image speak for itself. Sometimes authors tell us what they've already shown us. Maybe it's just a desire to summarize and underline the point, maybe it's a leftover from the outline, who knows how these superfluous repetitions get in there. But get them out of there! "Repetition dilutes your effect." Don't worry about whether or not you've made the point -- trust your readers, and if you think it needs more oomph, add details and action to bring out the events and the motives. Don't show, then tell. (and if you think that last line was a descriptive repetition, you're 100% right!)
3. Remove explanatory dialogue. Big long "you know why he did it, Bob?" explanations or clarifications of the meaning of events are usually hidden attempts to dramatize the meaning of the events. The problem is they aren't too well hidden and they're boring. Let the action and the story show us the events, show us the reasons behind them. Don't use your characters as mouthpieces for the author.
4. Avoid "the moral of the story is..." endings. Sure, Aesop's fables ended that way, as do various children's stories. But you want to "create a dramatic story with believable character doing interesting things." Your stories certainly can have a theme and illustrate lessons about life, but modern readers want to dig out the meanings themselves. Let the characters and their actions feel real, and they will imply morals and meanings. But let the reader interpret it for themselves.

Be ruthless with your stories. "Leave out whatever you can that's not pertinent in a particular scene."

Your exercise? Take a work in progress, and applying Nancy's four keys. Check where you start -- and skip the exposition. Make sure each image or description stands by itself, without a trailing summary or description. No museum labels for your pieces. Check the dialogue. Is there a character spouting explanations for you? Turn off the fountain. And check out the ending. Did you wrap it all up for the reader? Trim that wrapping off.

Write? Well, revise, at least.