Erase the Excess: Intensify Your Story by Trimming Scenes

How to Maintain Momentum by Removing Fluff from Scene Openings and Endings

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Although my day job is editing other writers’ fiction, I also write my own. Yesterday, I noticed I had written 22,000 words in the story I’m developing.

Not bad, not bad.

But before I could congratulate myself too much, I realized the number felt wrong. Had I written enough scenes or progressed the story enough to warrant that many words?

I won’t know for sure until I finish and go back to read what I’ve written, but my guess? I’ve put in a lot of unnecessary fluff.

Fluff is fine for a first draft. Maybe even a second, but it’s something you should be looking to cut when you start rewriting and revising.

So today, I want to talk about trimming your story so you can…

Make Every Scene Count!

Before I share tips on trimming the fat, how do you know the scene is necessary in the first place?

Although it’s a little too basic for long-term use, there’s a simple rule you can use to get you close. For every scene, ask yourself, does the scene:

• Advance the plot?

• Develop a character?

• Reveal crucial information?

Answering yes to all three might be the goal, but a yes to any of them indicates you’re at least on the right track.

If you answer no to all of them, you can cut the scene entirely.

I know, I know, trimming sucks. Especially when you want to reach a word count that officially awards you the novel category or when you don’t have to kill that great idea you’ve been savoring for weeks.

But at some point, you must be honest with yourself and determine if the scene is worth including. If not, you risk keeping too many scenes that aren’t propelling your story forward, which, in the long run, will lose you readers.

For now, let’s assume each scene is necessary. How can you ensure they’re keeping things moving smoothly?

Here are two ways...

1. Start the Scene as Late as Possible

You’ve probably heard the phrase, "start the next scene as late as possible." This means, in general, you should start a new scene as close to the action or critical event as possible.

This helps maintain a fast-paced narrative and eliminates unnecessary setup or background, which might otherwise slow down the story's momentum.

For example:

• Don’t start a scene with characters asking how the others are doing.

• Don’t slow things down with proper introductions.

• Don’t set up scenes with mundane actions that don’t forward the plot or develop characters.

In other words, you don’t need characters saying hi to one another or going about a typical day.

But let’s dig a little deeper with some other examples…

Cut to the Action

Instead of showing your hero stop her car, get out, lock the door, rush into the building, ascend three flights of stairs, knock on the door, and then punch the guy who answers, just start the scene with the punch.

If the scene’s point is to show that your hero uses force to obtain information, everything before decking the guy might be unnecessary.

Sure, showing her lock the car door or hyperventilate on the second floor might develop important traits about the character, but if that’s not the point, cutting to the action might jar your readers and pull them immediately into the moment.

Find the Emotional Conflict

For scenes centered around personal struggle or emotional conflict, consider starting with the height of tension.

For example: "I can't believe you lied to me," he said, tears welling in his eyes, his voice barely above a whisper as he tossed the photos on the table in front of his lover.

Skip the Set-Up

Don’t start every scene with a setup, especially if we already have an idea of what the next scene might entail.

For example, if you have two cops realizing too late that the jewelry store was the intended target all along, you don’t need to set up the next scene by establishing where they’ve gone. Instead, start with them looking at the empty safe with alarm bells ringing.

2. End the Scene Quickly

Ending a scene quickly can be just as effective as starting it as late as possible. By concluding a scene swiftly after the main action or resolution, you keep the pace brisk.

Don’t Linger After the Resolution

After a conflict is resolved or a decision is made, continuing with mundane details can lessen the scene's impact.

For example, maybe you have a couple arguing over dinner. “I want a divorce,” the husband shouts before storming out. Cut the scene there. Let the reader feel those stark emotions. Don’t water it down by showing the wife clean the table and start doing the dishes (unless the goal is to show her reaction more thoroughly).

Skip the Explanations

Following a reveal or significant event with too much explanation or internal monologue can feel redundant. And if your readers are savvy enough to understand the impact without an explanation, you risk them growing bored.

For example, your vampire-hunting hero discovers the shocking secret that her sidekick is actually a vampire. Oh no! That reveal is shocking enough on its own, and if you’ve set up your characters well enough, you don’t need to explain to the readers what sort of dilemma this creates for your hero.

Understand Your Medium

There are no rules here. A scene works or it doesn’t. And knowing what to trim just takes practice.

One way to learn quickly is by watching TV with an eye toward when scenes start and end. If you begin to pay attention, you might be shocked to see just how many scenes are crammed into every episode.

Of course, you probably aren’t writing TV shows, so be aware of how scenes impact your story when you cut them tight or allow them room to breathe.

For novels, you have more leeway than you do for novellas or other shorter tales. For short stories, every word is important, so you can bet you need streamlined scenes. The shorter the fiction, the more important it is to trim the fat.

If you write comics, the tighter you can make each scene, the more engaged your readers will be. Plus, if you’re paying for art, colors, letters, and printing, it’ll help save money if you keep things trimmed.

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