Tips in tightening up our writing

[Segilola]

Good examples Graeme but shouldn't it be loosely expected? the genre conventions I mean. How it is done is then like you said totally up to the author. It's almost like a student going to school and either graduates or not graduates. One or the other is expected and we have a loose expectation of what would happen with either scenario

[Graeme]

Hi Segilola. Agreed. That is what I mean.

[Ian]

All books have some sort of formula - for example, at the end of the book, there should be some sort of conclusion, although some put in aa cliff-hanger to goad people into the next one - and that is another formula. Similarly, a mystery should end up solved, although there is no good reason why everyone might not give up. In a thriller, you need to have periodic action, which means there has to some sort of overarching bad guy who turns up every now and again.
But beyond that, I am strongly against specific formulae. I believe there is at least one point to be made, so the story has to be arranged to make it.