When you are writing Chapter Five you are officially
submerged in your story. For a mystery, your detective is hip deep in a
homicide investigation while also trying to live out his/her life. For a
romance, your two characters are acquainted and possibly ruffling each other’s
feathers from aggravation and attraction.
Right now, you are writing filling material and small
events to build the story, but that does not give you permission to include
parts that people would skip just to reach a certain page number or word count.
One thing I find myself skipping when I am reading a book
is a bunch of nonsense that I don’t need to know, that has nothing to do with
the story line, and won’t help me to understand the main character. I once read
a book that detailed the main characters grocery trip to replenish all the
things that were lost in a house fire. Though the book was good, I rolled my
eyes and skipped whole pages. Such a waste of words!
Another thing that I find myself skipping is heavy details,
especially about a room. Don’t get me wrong, it is very important to paint an
image for the reader, but when you have a page-long paragraph describing a room
from floor to ceiling, you’ve written something that a lot of people will skip.
You don’t have to furnish the whole room in words. Instead, only include
details that are important and paint a clear image of the room in a short and
concise paragraph or two.
Think about the books that you have read in the past that
you didn’t like. Then write down what irked you about those books and make sure
when you are writing that you don’t do any of those things.
QUESTION: What do you tend
to skip when you’re reading a book?