What a Reader Really Needs to Know-Part Three

Now, we pick up with part three of A Call to Action. Remember the acronym I talked about in Section Two? D.I.M.E. You can review it here:

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Is the action filler?

It’s not always easy to tell when action is filler, especially when you’re the writer. All authors hit road blocks at times. You get a character to a certain spot and then you’re struggling to figure out how to get them to the next place they’re supposed to be. During that struggle, it’s easy to get into the habit of using filler sentences. These are what I call point moves which is basically shuffling the characters from point a to point b instead of using the action purposefully.

Referring back to Janice from part two which you can read here, all the actions were step by step simply showing the readers the character had arisen from bed and was starting her day. When you write, though, it’s important to think how much of the information you’re providing is absolutely necessary. In each scene, you should be asking yourself the following questions:

Do my characters really need to be doing this?

Is there a better way to showcase the action?

What do I absolutely have to show that’s important to the storyline?

Start the scene where the real action starts and keep the minutiae to a minimum. Focus on showing the story and allow the reader’s imagination to create every scene.

In the next part, we’ll cover the “M” in D.I.M.E. which is Make the Action Work by Tightening the Steps.