Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Effective storytelling omits unnecessary details that readers would skip.
In plain terms
Skip the boring parts that readers would skip.
What can you take from it?
Cut the parts readers would skip.

Where it applies

  • writing drafts
  • editing fiction
  • content creation

Putting it to work

  • trim the text

Questions to consider

  • What parts do your readers skip?
  • How do you cut the fat?

Another view

Some pacing requires filler that readers might skim.

More from Elmore Leonard

  1. If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

    Permalink to quote #2
  2. What do you tell a man with two black eyes? Nothing, he's already been told twice.

    Permalink to quote #4
  3. For a long time I've been walking down life's road with my two pals, Bad Luck and Bad Choices. Fortunately I'm a big believer in new beginnings, new friends, a…

    Permalink to quote #1

Related quotes

  1. The economy of a novelist is a little like that of a careful housewife who is unwilling to throw away anything that might perhaps serve its turn. Perhaps the c…

    Graham GreeneGraham Greene quote #6
  2. He picked out this sentence in a New Yorker casual of mine: 'After dinner, the men moved into the living room,' and he wanted to know why I, or the editors, ha…

    James ThurberJames Thurber quote #39
  3. When you write a story, you're telling yourself the story...When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.

    Stephen KingStephen King quote #115