Lewis' Book of Reviews and Writing Advice

Slow Down!

Greetings, Ink Jars, Professor Lewis here with a quick lesson. I am here to discuss a subject which I cannot believe I haven't discussed before: Slowing Down your plot! What do I mean by this?

EXAMPLE A of Fast Plots (unhealthy):

So I lived in a palace for ten years and then I moved to Alaska where I ate moose and swam. Then I lived until I was old in the wilderness till I got married and then I lived in palace with princess. The end.

How many of you felt physically hurt by reading that? I hope a few of you. EXAMPLE A makes a great summary for your book--which is for your eyes only. It will not, however, due for an intriguing book. It gives us, the reader, ZERO interest in the story. Sure, we may "want to hear more," but most of the time it will leave us twitching to edit it!

How can you fix this issue? Add the fluff. You can always edit it out later! Now, what I meant by "fluff" is all that extra detail which may--for some of you--seem like a waste.

NOTE: I am not saying that it is evil to summarize useless information (because it usually is REALLY GOOD to reduce the amount of random extra sentences/word/chapters you have), but it is not good to have lack of detail.

So here's EXAMPLE A with a little more detail:

I was born and raised (until the age of ten) in a palace as a prince. Here I learned and lived and loved. At ten, I was moved to Alaska because of some threats against the crown.  Here I thrived! I enjoyed every moment, every SECOND of the freedom I was able to procure from the lovely open landscape provided for me! My family lived in a small cabin. Around us grew a thick wilderness. The floor or this forest was cloaked with a blanket of pine-needles. Roots wound in and out of the ground, ducking below the surface just to rise in another moment. There was also a beautiful, clear lake close by where we swam. In this magical realm I lived for several years while the world of my birth settled down. One day while I was walking in the woods, my father came to me, "Son," he said, "Would you like to go home?" It took a while, but I nodded and managed a, "yes." He replied, "And you would do anything to go home?" I again nodded and he told me of a treaty which would re-grant my family domain of our country. The treaty required my father to step down as king and for me to step up. I would have to marry a princess by the name of Evynne Golding. Of course, I agreed and married her. Going home and leaving Alaska was hard, but it was worth it. I lived an extremely wonderful live."

There that was a long EXAMPLE, but it gets my point across. If we wanted to, we could edit it down to that summary above. So ad detail! Go, my little Ink Jars! Un-summarize your awesome novels and help them unleash their amazing potential!

Your faithful writer, Professor Lewis