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Did you ever think of “Information density” when you write? Me neither. But according to
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The engine in your book
There’s a powerful engine in your book, it’s just a bit hard to find. It’s in every word, and it drives plot and characters and everything else.
Everybody knows the most important part of a car is the engine. You might like your top-notch speakers for the surround sound, or the air conditioning on a sweltering day, or the incredible shock absorbers, but you can’t say you’d take those over an engine.
So, what’s the engine of your book? Plot? It’s essential if you’re writing a thriller that needs page-turning action. What about characters? Many say a book is nothing without an attention-grabbing character at its center.
Turns out there’s a more powerful engine in your book, it’s just a bit hard to find. It’s in every word, that’s how powerful it is. It drives plot and characters and everything else.
What is it? We can call it “information density.” It’s knowing exactly how much gas to give, and when. It’s a Goldilocks situation: not too little, not too much, but just right. What “just right” is is up to you, your writing style, and the preferences of your readers.
Stories are about conveying information in a pleasing and gripping way. Not enough information yields a big dose of boredom. Too much information can confuse or overwhelm. As readers and writers, we have an intuitive feel for the density of good stuff in a book, but we rarely take the time to quantify it.
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