Ever get tangled up in the opening lines of your story, wrestling with the beautiful prose you’ve crafted, only for a seasoned editor to suggest you hit the delete button? Yeah, me too! It’s like being told your beloved pet rock just isn’t cutting it as a companion! What if I told you that the key to a gripping narrative lies not in flowery introductions, but in striking right to the heart of the action? In this article, I’m sharing four powerful editing tips from a seasoned pro that can help your readers inhale your story in one breath—because let’s face it, nobody wants to wade through pages of fluff before the fireworks start, right? So, grab your pen or keyboard, and let’s dive into these golden nuggets of wisdom that could just transform your writing! <a href="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:731/1*2T8NXnQfAJdQKYOSYlQA.png”>LEARN MORE.
4 editing recommendations from a pro for a story people would read in one breath
“It’s good. Delete it,” suggested Michael Thompson (a professional writer and my mentor) for the introduction of my boosted story When The High School Love Leaves You 33 Years After.
“The whole intro? All these beautiful words that I birthed and that my readers highlighted?” I lamented silently.
Then I took a step back. I was there to listen and learn by dissecting A story, not MY story.
Skip The Intro
“It’s well written but you don’t need it. It doesn’t add value to the narrative, and delays the real action unnecessarily,” was Mike’s verdict about the beginning of my story.
When you are sitting in the dark in front of a huge movie screen, the last thing you want is an explanation of what you are about to see. What you want is to be instantly sucked out of your daily life and projected into something completely different.
I read in an influential cinema blog that the opening scene is the most valuable real estate a film has to offer. The first minutes of Trainspotting sure made a lasting impression on me.
