THE GREAT DE-CLUTTER IS COMING
by Stephanie Nickel, CES Editor, Writer, Coach, and Critique Specialist
I hope that by this time next year our household will be rid of those things we aren’t using, those things no one will miss if they’re gone.
In fact, because my husband is on holidays this week, we plan to make a start in the dungeon (aka the basement).
The act of de-cluttering doesn’t apply only to our homes, but to our writing as well. When applied to the written word, it is sometimes referred to as “trimming the fat.”
Here’s what I mean . . .
1. If you’ve ever watched the deleted scenes at the end of a movie, you’ll get the idea. Often the scenes are fun and we may wish they’d kept them in. However, these scenes are often cut because they don’t advance the story.
2. Over the years, novels have been “de-cluttered.” At one time, people didn’t travel far from home; they didn’t have access to books or television; and, of course, the Internet was decades—if not centuries—in the future. Now, we don’t have to describe “small town America” to our average audience. Readers know what the suburbs look like even if they don’t live there. We must make certain we are not describing something our readers can picture with very little prompting. (That said, better writing doesn’t always mean fewer words. The act of showing not telling, writing in deep point-of-view, requires more words. That’s a topic for another day.)
3. I’ve been editing an historical novel. An earlier draft included several “telling sections.” The information was fascinating. Had it been in a non-fiction book, it would have been wonderful. However, I had to remind myself that these sections should be rewritten to include action and dialogue. Does “compelling” apply to your work? If so, you’re probably on the right track. Just make sure you’re following “the rules” that apply to your type of writing as best you can.
4. Readers should never be able to ask, “Who cares?” about any section of your work.
5. Think succinct. While not my best poem ever, if you keep this in mind, you will be better able to de-clutter your writing.
Try these exercises . . .
1. Choose a single writing project to focus on this week.
2. Go through your work and remove any word, sentence, paragraph—or chapter—that doesn’t advance the story in the case of fiction or could be considered unnecessary in the case of non-fiction. Before doing so, I suggest you save a copy of the original work in case you decide later that you want to keep the deleted section(s). (Cutting portions we’ve struggled over and polished can be almost heartbreaking, but in the end, it may make for a much better article or book.)
3. Do the same with a portion of one of your favorite books.
4. Watch a movie you are familiar with and make note of any significant section (dialogue or action) that doesn’t advance the story.
5. Choose a skills development book you’ve been wanting to read and aim to finish it before the New Year. (Too often I have several books on the go. At some point, I have to zero in on one of them and read to the end.)
Do you have any questions about this post? We’d love to hear from you.
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