Cut it Down to Clear it Up!

Writing small- choosing a manageable topic. WALT: Writing small- choosing a manageable topic. Getting rid of “filler” information in your stories.

Writing small This does NOT mean writing in tiny letters. Writing small means choosing a small and manageable topic.

Why? When you start with a very big topic, it’s hard to make your writing clear or interesting. There is so much to say that you hardly know where to begin. Writers know that when you “write small” you make your writing easier to handle. But what does it mean to “write small”? It means having a small topic and staying on topic.

Danny, The Champion of the World Here is an example from a writer you may know, Roald Dahl. Notice how Roald Dahl’s character, Danny does not try to tell everything about his father. I was glad my father was an eye-smiler. It meant he never gave me a fake smile because it’s impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren’t feeling twinkly yourself. A mouth-smile is different. You can fake a mouth-smile any time you want, simply by moving your lips. I’ve also learned that a real mouth-smile always has an eye-smile to go with it. So watch out, I say, when someone smiles at you with his mouth but his eyes stay the same. It’s sure to be a phony.

What did you learn? The speaker, Danny, sticks to one topic: the way his father smiles. He does not write a story called “All About My Dad.” Still, do you learn a little about what Danny’s father is like? Write down some things that you learned about Danny’s father just from reading this one paragraph.

So what? So what if you write too much or put in too many details? Can you have too many details in your writing? Does it really matter? YES! Extra information takes up space without helping your main idea. To revise your writing and make it stronger you need to take out this “filler” information-- information you do not need.

Get rid of that filler! When good writers find filler in their writing, they get rid of it, like this: Mike liked basketball. He was a good player, too. He made lots of points for his team. He had a dog.

You be the editor! Now it’s your turn. You be the editor for this piece of writing about a boy’s older brother. As you read the first time, look carefully with your reviser’s eye for filler, the information that is not needed. Then read the piece again. This time have a pencil in your hand. When you spot some filler, draw a line through it.