“Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.”

― Coco Chanel 

So, this weekend, I was watching my cooking shows, and once again, I heard a quote that was so perfect for authors.

I think that too often, I am passing on projects because they are simply trying to do too much. Authors add subplots, extra characters and extra scenes just to enhance a story. The reality is that adding more often ruins the entire story and forces the reader to lose sight on the central theme you probably (or hopefully) established in the beginning.

I have been working with one of my authors on some revisions, and she was also running into this same problem/ When she sent me her project, she was talking of adding full scenes to even a full new chapter to fix some issues. This would have distracted from the great story she was writing.

The solution? We found 3 places in 3 chapters to simply add a couple of sentences of introspection for the characters. When the reader gets through those three chapters, a whole new level would have been developed. Adding the chapter? Too much!

If you feel your story is not working for you, the key might not be adding more, but taking something out. Simply and focus! That will always create the great story