When I advise writers on their manuscripts—especially when I’m looking at their first pages—the most consistent feedback I have is: Cut. I constantly question: Do we need this detail? Does this information have to come right now? Can we wait on this back story? Why is this description relevant?
Also, it can sometimes be easier to cut something if you can’t see how to fix it. Just remove the offending bits, job done. But too many cuts can deaden a piece. You know how doctors used to think that bleeding you out would resolve your health problems? Sometimes cutting a piece of writing is just like that. You’re not helping, you’re weakening.
In the latest Glimmer Train bulletin, fiction writer Josh Weil discusses when brevity is not your best friend in telling a story:
We’ve all been there: a moment when something of such import happens that the space life allows for it seems too small. For me, the time my grandfather broke free of his dementia to speak last words to me was like that. The time I came home to an empty apartment and knew my marriage was over was like that….Unfortunately, life doesn’t let time expand to hold these things the way they warrant. Luckily, writing does. I call it breathing room. And I think it’s one of the most underappreciated (even at times derided) ideas a creative writer can employ.
Also in the latest Glimmer Train bulletin:
- On the Impoverished World by Silas Dent Zobal
- Valerie Laken: From an Interview by Peggy Adler
- Turning Our Lives into Fiction by William Luvaas
- What One Feels Compelled to Write by Antonya Nelson
Jane Friedman has spent nearly 25 years working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2023. Her latest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.
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[…] It's sometimes easier to cut a piece of writing if you can't see how to fix it. Just remove the offending bits, job done. But it can deaden a piece. […]
[…] When Brevity in Storytelling Is Bad (Jane Friedman) When I advise writers on their manuscripts—especially when I’m looking at their first pages—the most consistent feedback I have is: Cut. I constantly question: Do we need this detail? Does this information have to come right now? Can we wait on this back story? Why is this description relevant? […]
Guilty as charged. Thanks, Jane!
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