How To Decide What Belongs In Your Book (and What Doesn't)

How do you decide which stories belong in your book—and which ones don't?

When you're writing your own story, everything can start to feel important. The people. The memories. The conversations. The backstory. But your life is bigger than your book, and not every meaningful memory belongs in the story you're telling.

In this episode of The Edit With Holly Totten Writing, Editing, Publishing, Holly shares practical ways to decide what stays, what goes, and what might simply belong somewhere else.

You'll learn how to:

• Give every story or scene a "job"
• Decide whether a memory moves your story forward or takes your reader deeper
• Separate necessary information from everything you know
• Recognize when backstory is helping—or taking over
• Use the "thread test" to decide whether something belongs
• Create a "Not This Book" file for stories you aren't ready to use
• Understand the difference between writing something and deciding to publish it

Most importantly, you'll learn why leaving something out doesn't mean the story doesn't matter.

You aren't trying to tell everything.

You're trying to tell the right things well.

And sometimes, one of the most important decisions a writer makes is knowing what not to include.

Connect with Holly at
https://www.writelynotable.com

writelynotable@gmail.com