Lean into the Lemons: How Detail Powers Scenes

By Allison K Williams

Recently, I read advice to writers about how to trim their manuscripts when they’ve got too many words: “Cut facts, not emotions; cut scenes, not emotions.”

Um, hell no.

Because while it’s counterintuitive to cut the love and keep the lemons, it’s details that make emotion. Facts. Details stretch time, make moments important, and most of all, make the reader feel with and for the character on the page.

Sure, we can write how much we love our wife, how we feel...