Writers Tip #56: Don't Repeat Yourself


writers tips

Great tips for soon-to-be great writers


When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.


Today's tip: Don't repeat yourself.


Or, put another way: Trust your audience. If you've written a compelling story, they will remember the details. When you repeat something, they'll be insulted you didn't trust them. That's a bad place to be with your audience.


Lots of novice authors feel they must repeat the most important plot details because they are critical to the story. Maybe it happened in the first twenty pages of the book and you're now on Page 333. Here's what I do: I say it a different way. Maybe I come at it from someone else's perspective–show how they see this tidbit as opposed to how my earlier character did. I might also add it to dialogue–a legitimate way to summarize a plot, remind the reader where we are in the story.


How do you accomplish this tricky piece of writing?


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Filed under: writers tips, writing Tagged: storytelling, writers tips, writing
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Published on April 04, 2011 08:39
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