This is a kind of cut that I’m finding, and one I’m glad to get rid of.
Aimee twisted around, surveying the field for the little boy. She didn't see him anywhere. “Where'd he go?”
The problem here is that the I’m stating the obvious. The action and the dialogue indicate that Aimee can’t see the little boy, so I don’t need to tell the reader this. The paragraph can be shortened to:
Aimee twisted around, surveying the field for the little boy. “Where'd he go?”
There, I’ve lost five words and no meaning. I think this falls under the general category of “telling”, but that’s such a broad term that I prefer to call this “stating the obvious”.
Back to more cutting.
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