Just as we use scaffolding to construct buildings, we use specific writing devices, tools, and tricks to create fiction. However, as we must remove the braces and platforms before putting the home on the market, we must identify and remove these structural supports from our stories before submitting them. We need such tools to write the story, but leaving them lying about afterward–like a table saw in the middle of the living room–distracts the readers and gets in the way of their enjoyment of the story.
Here’s a list of common types of scaffolding writers use in their early drafts and how to revise them away:
- As you know, Bobs – This is when two or more characters have a dialogue for the sole purpose of informing the reader of backstory. The name comes from science fiction, “As you know, Bob, we are sitting in this tree surrounded by Zombie Vampire bats on Planet Zeta 9 because…” Such discussions throw the readers out of the story. Instead, work in the background one detail at a time and only as necessary.
- Walking to the scene – Writers like to ease into the story, but the reader wants to be dropped directly into the action. The writer might describe the headwaters of the river, but the reader wants to experience the raft going over the falls. Find the one or two descriptive lines that set the scene and cut the rest.
- Author’s notes – The writer should know all the motivations and minor details of the characters, but these should be shown in action and tiny tastes not lumps of exposition dropped into the text. Fiction readers want experiences not information. They want the “telling detail” that crystalizes the person in a place with a problem. Cut the trivia.
- Tells – These are shortcuts that should be dramatized. For example, when we drop in the name of an emotion instead of showing it in action. Do a search for emotion nouns such as anger, hatred, or love and demonstrate them instead. Don’t tell me Fred is angry. Show him punching a wall.
- Filter verbs – Expressions like the main character saw, heard, noticed, tasted, etc. This is the writer wanting to incarnate or get inside a character, to experience the world through them. That’s great! However, in first or close third person points of view, the readers know where they are and don’t need these constant verbal reminders. Filter verbs push the reader away. In a first draft, you might write, “She saw birds fly overhead.” This could be revised to say, “Gulls soared overhead.” Find the filters and cut them.
- Over-writing/Blow-by-blow – This usually happens as a response to criticism that something is confusing, and the writer overcompensates, making the reader suffer an unwanted explanation. The actual solution lies elsewhere. Why is the reader confused? Because the threads have not been plucked earlier in the work. Overwriting can also occur when the author lacks confidence in their readers. Give them your best show and let them enjoy “getting it,” in other words, RUE or Resist the Urge to Explain.
- Clichés and stereotypes that function as placeholders – Again, it’s vital the writer get the story down, but it’s also important to substitute in specific descriptions to make the characters both realistic and interesting.
- Narrative Summary – And as we can go too long, we can sometimes cut the scene too short. In early drafts, it’s important to get the story down, and we summarize the action instead of putting it on the page. However, if left in the final draft, this both shortchanges the readers’ experience vs. information contract and messes with the pacing. Dramatize these interesting bits and move on.
Ultimately, why do writers use scaffolding? First and foremost, it’s about getting the story down on paper. The rough draft is when we “tell” ourselves the story. Only later, do we revise and convert those tells into shows. Scaffolding not only helps us get the story written, but like little neon signs, it helps us identify what is missing or unnecessary. It’s through this revision process we craft a good story into a great one.