Eliminate the Unnecessary in Your Writing

As a book coach, I see a lot of the common problems in the manuscripts I read. 

It might be unclear character stakes or story trajectory issues or a bit of head hopping in those early chapters. 

But one thing I see a lot when I’ve got an early draft in my hands, is too much logistical information. 

This can look like a couple of things:

• Long descriptions of a routine

• Directions

• Getting characters from one place to the next

When we’re drafting, that logistical filler tends to be how we write our way into a scene (definitely guilty of this). Especially if we’re any kind of pantser. We may sit down at the computer that day and not really know where we’re headed in a scene until several paragraphs in and a handsome stranger enters the coffee shop. 

Then that scene is off to the races! Tension. Flirty banter. Perhaps an embarrassing coffee spill or mysterious note dropped on the table that sets your protagonist off on a spy adventure through Switzerland. 

My point is, lots more interesting stuff started happening after the three paragraphs of getting up, showering, realizing she was out of coffee and dragging herself through traffic to the coffee shop that wasn’t closest to her office but has the best blueberry muffins. 

Some of that information may be necessary (being out of coffee, choosing the particular shop) but some of it may not (waking up, last night’s dream, showering, picking out an outfit, the traffic…) 

So how can you tell if which logistics should be included and which can hit the cutting room floor?

1. Ask yourself: Is this necessary to the story? If the easy answer is “No” – cut it. No mercy. 
2. Cut and see. If you still aren’t sure if needs to be there or not, try cutting the first sentence or even the first paragraph of your scene and see if it reads stronger. Are you daring? Try cutting the first two paragraphs. Keep slicing until you hit that magical in media res start for each chapter. 
3. Look for small talk in your dialogue. Yes, we naturally have a little small talk in our real lives, but don’t let your characters fall victim to it. Dive right in. 
4. Look to television. I loved watching soaps when I was in high school, particularly General Hospital. People just showed up places and jumped straight into a scene. We didn’t care if they stopped for gas on the way or which route they took from the hospital to the dock (in fact, I’m not sure where those two things are even related to each other in space and I’m not any more lost in the story for it), or if their favorite sweater was in the dirty clothes this morning. We just wanted to know who is in a coma, who put them there, and does it have anything to do with that strange mysterious woman who just arrived in town? 

But, Monica, sometimes we need logistics for context or clarity? Then what? 

I get it. I’m writing a road trip novel right now and there are times when the road they are on or the amount of traffic is important (nothing like being delayed to amp up some in-car tension between characters who both don’t want to be there anyway!), but other times I just need them to get to the next town without worrying about how they got there because what happens in the town is way more important than the exact GPS instructions. I trust the reader to understand how car trips work without having to show them the boring bits. 

If you do need to include some logistical information: 

• Save those details for when they count

• Pepper in what you need to to ground your character in time and space, but be creative. Don’t just have them looking at a clock or a map and reciting the information to the reader, have them notice the way the sun slants through the trees or how the vegetation on the shoulder changed the closer they got to the beach.

• Use their breakfast or walk to work to include sensory details that show us something about the character’s perspective or mindset

In other words, your words should always be working for your protagonist. Don’t let any logistical writing slow down that pace of discovery for your reader.

Eliminate the unnecessary.

Keep what moves the story forward. 

It’s just that simple. And that hard. Like usual. 

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