This week: Start Late. Leave Early. Edited by: Jayne 🕸️ 🕷️  
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| Hi, I'm Jayne. I'll be your editor today. |
Ah, start late, leave early. You’d think it was my life mantra, right? Sadly, no. It’s only solid story advice.
I am an overexplainer. Feel free to peruse one of my 1,000-word newsletters and see for yourself.
I don’t only do it with nonfiction; my fiction stories also tend to run long. I overexplain mostly out of fear. Fear I haven’t given the reader enough; fear I haven’t made myself clear; fear I’ve left out the one critical detail that would make the story better.
It’s a fairly common trap for writers (and why we tend to cut a good chunk in an edit). We explain how the character got here. Why they’re upset. What they had for breakfast. Maybe they had second breakfast.
Then we stick around after the ending and give the post-ending, where we make sure they’re okay (or, in the case of horror, truly deceased and not coming back). Did those affected get closure? Did they hug their mom? Did they find a good therapist and attend all their appointments?
It all ends up being too much information.
Here’s the fix: start late, leave early.
Skip the Setup
Instead of starting with the character waking up, getting dressed, and driving to the house where the confrontation will happen, start in the house. Or at the front door. Or mid-argument. Start after the normal day has already unraveled.
Dropping into the moment forces urgency. It tells the reader: This is where it matters. This is related to in media res ("Mystery Newsletter (April 12, 2023)" ), but it’s not just about action. It’s about knowing what parts of the story aren’t necessary and letting the reader jump straight to what matters.
You don’t need to explain what happened before. If it’s important, body language, word choice, reactions, and other context will clue us in. Good stories trust the reader to catch up.
Exit While the Tension’s Still Humming
You don’t need to tie every story up in a bow. A tale doesn’t always need a moral or a hug goodbye. It simply needs a final beat that sticks with the reader.
You can use a sharp line to close out realizations that don’t get acted on, a door that never gets opened, or consequences that are still hovering over the main character(s).
Leaving early lets the story live in the reader’s head. They’ll sit with it longer, even if they don’t know why.
A reader who says, “What?!” is likely angry at your ending. A reader who says, “Now what?” and keeps thinking about the meaning behind the ending—and what the characters might be doing—is what you’re aiming for.
Sometimes Precision Feels Rude
You’re not being rude by withholding information if you’re doing it for a specific literary purpose. You’re forming your story into a precise shape, and that means leaving stuff on the cutting-room floor.
For you younger folks, I guess it means hitting “Skip Recap” on Netflix. I think that’s a thing. How do you do, fellow kids?
Anyway, starting late and leaving early cuts the fluff. It respects and rewards the reader’s attention.
When you begin your next draft, ask yourself two questions:
1. What’s the moment everything changes?
2. What’s the moment it stops changing?
Now write about everything between those two points.
Start late. Leave early.
I lied, by the way. That is totally my life’s motto.
As always, happy writing.
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| | | The Cover-up (18+)
The power of ICE was absolute. They could arrest anyone for anything. Or could they?
#2348200 by bobaturn  |
| | The Bradbury (E)
If you write 52 short stories, one of them's bound to be great... right? Let's find out!
#2277001 by Jeff  |
If you see great work, nominate it for a Quill!
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Short Stories: October 15, 2025 Issue [#13402]
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