How to Fix Overwriting
Updated: Mar 25

Writer: What exactly do you mean when you say “overwriting”?
Editor: Well… it’s basically a word dump.
Let me explain…
When an author struggles with giving too much information to make sense of the story, it ends up buried under a mass of prose.
Too much and a reader gets bored.
Every.
Word.
Counts.
So how do you find that sweet spot?
The first thing you have to realize is that writing a story isn’t the same thing as watching Netflix.
This means adding in sentences like:
He turned the doorknob.
She opened the car door and got out.
They talk about the weather, and it’s blah, blah, blah. (unless it’s imperative to your story)
Dialing a phone number and switching the phone between your hands and your shoulder.
The driver turned off the engine.
The driver undid his seatbelt, exited the car, closed the door.
He flicked on the light, walked over to the safe, bent down, moved the dial.