CONFUSING ACTIONS MAKE YOUR PAGES DRY

The next time you’re not Explaining enough is your MC’s or other characters’ actions. That is they are doing something and that’s all you’re saying.

Yes. You’re just saying. ‘Then she jumped off of the roof,’ and you're saying it without telling us why.

Now, pay attention here. Maybe, you’ve mentioned and showed earlier with dialogues that someone has left her, or someone close to her died, or she lost her lawsuit, or her years of the company went bankrupt in Covid-19 … You may have explained the situation. But you didn’t tell me her thoughts. NOTE: Her Thoughts!

 

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Now that’s very important. You have to write a line or two about feelings, thoughts, emotions, and gradually come to decisions or any simpler action like she decided to go to Place-A instead of Place-B where she was supposed to be. 

What you have to do is smoothen the decision with 2-3 more lines/words/ phrases that "this is why she is doing it/ changing decision/ or whatever activity-verbs you’ve used."

Only the activity verbs are not enough to 'show' even if you're using loads of them in the current moments. 

Previously, I’ve talked about why readers are skimming your chapters. You’ll find the problem with list-of-activity verbs there. But on the page, you’ve to answer all sorts of questions that come to readers’ minds as ‘confusion’, not as suspense. 

Note: Don’t answer your plot-point too early, and world-building or setting is not plot-point. Don't try to create too much suspense with your world and settings.

The best way to keep readers engaged is, saying what readers are currently thinking, and keep creating tiny-problems and mini-questions that you answer the next moment. And each of your pages should have several questions and answers. While giving new questions to make me want to turn the page.

So in this blog, just remember one point:

Only activity verbs will make your pages dry. 

Bring the thoughts and MC's emotions, along with those current activities.

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