Rebuttal: Write What’s Interesting Not What’s Happening.

Dustin, Phil, and I were all chatting on Discord the other week as I was struggling with some sort of writing problem or another as I was working my way through some editing challenges. In response to my plight, Phil made a really profound statement.

Phil said: I think you start to figure out how to write the “what’s interesting” more than the “ what’s happening”.

This blew my mind.

It sounds so simple. But I feel like there is a ton to unpack there so I asked Phil to write a blog about it. Which Phil graciously obliged me on. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite check the boxes I was hoping it would. (Sorry Phil) So I’m going to take a stab at explaining what this meant to me.

Don’t write a play-by-play of the action. Write the bits that are absolutely necessary and the bits your audience will care about the most. (Phil does actually do a good job of explaining this part.) You don’t have to describe everything in every detail, just the important and interesting things. You don’t have to always give every back story and every bit of information about the lore of the world. Let your readers wonder. It’s ok to leave them wanting a little more. You don’t have to fill every little bit of your book with ever explicit detail of the day. Focus on the things that matter the most. And I know, when you’re writing, it feels like it all matters, but what’s the most interesting bits? Stick to that as much as you can.

(And I feel like after my first book gets published, someone is sure to come back and point out all the times I did or didn’t do the above things, but you know what, it’s my first book and I’m still learning. So shush.)

Dustin uses this example frequently. You don’t have to write the entire set up to a scene, you can come in in the middle of the action. You don’t have to write about your characters coming in, taking their shoes and coats off, sitting down at the table, brewing a pot of tea, and chatting about the weather until they get around to what they really want to talk about. You can enter the scene in the middle of them sipping their tea and discussing what they needed to discuss. The reader will intuit the rest.

I also feel it goes a little deeper than that. I think it also goes into how you write what’s happening. Because, it’s a story. You do have to explain what is happening. So you should also try to do this in an interesting way.

Jaren walked into the room. He set the saddle bags down and sat down on the bed. He was tired and frustrated by the days events.

vs

Jaren stormed into the room and threw the saddle bags on the floor before collapsing onto the bed. Sighing, he put his head in his hands. “Moons above.”

Which of those books would you rather read? (This is also a good example of showing and not telling, IMO.)

I’m not going to belabor the point, but hopefully you get the idea. I feel like this is much more subtle and tricky for a beginning writer like myself, but it’s something that really struck me so I thought I would share my thoughts. Show don’t tell, and make sure what you do show is the most interesting bits.

Till next time dear reader, have fun skipping the boring parts and keeping it interesting. <3 Tiff