I’ve read a couple of stories recently that made me consider how long the book would be if all the fluff was removed. Perhaps the authors needed to meet a word count criteria. If they struggled with the characters and the conflict, that might explain the non-essential paragraphs/pages, in my opinion.
The first book was the third in a paranormal romance trilogy by a major author. I was looking forward to how the evil witch would be beaten and items returned to the ghosts. About two-thirds of the book was related to this story line. The rest included the minutia of the everyday lives of the characters. The author even brought back a character from book one that the reader knew about but didn’t have a big part. That same character appeared in book two for one scene. I didn’t think that was a thread that needed to be tied up… more like a little fluff to fill out the pages.
The second book is the first in a series, and the first I’ve read by this author. On a spicy scale of one to ten, I would say this is a solid nine. And because this title might fall under the subgenre of erotica, it would explain why two-thirds of the book are steamy scenes. I like the story part: a SAR member had an accident during a rescue and can’t remember what happened to her partner. The bits of flashback are all the reader has for that plot.
An author I know says she writes novellas and 50K word novels because she doesn’t like to include a lot of details and descriptions. She also doesn’t like to read long books because, in her opinion, authors include too much. She prefers action, story, and steamy scenes without deep emotions or tangled plot lines.
When I write my fiction, I weigh dialogue with action, setting with inner thoughts, action/danger with intimate scenes. My inner critic is always frowning and questioning the plot threads, the red herrings, the character motivation, and the details. When I edit, I ask myself, “Does this move the story forward? Can I remove it and still have a strong story?” I’m glad there are many authors who write stories for all the different readers, since opinions vary when it comes to story or fluff.
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