Writing Lite Tip 18: If you’re bored with the passage, your reader will be too.

Writing Lite Tip 18: If you’re bored with the passage, your reader will be too.

One of the best writing tips ever comes from the late Elmore Leonard, who said:

“Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.”

In other words, those long, boring descriptions of setting, mood, internal thinking, etc. Here’s the bottom line: If you’re bored reading them, the chances are good your reader will be too. Edit them down. Or delete them.