: Re: How do you fill pages with fluff? I'm writing a book and I'm finished but it is way too short. It's not choppy but it's missing pieces. The difficult part is my writing style revolves around

@LarsenBagley300

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Answer:

My suggestion is (1) to add in try:fail cycles, before the final try:succeed cycle. (2) Also, ask yourself if you are including the internal state of the character--background, conflict and so on, that she may reflect upon and feel (introspection). (3) Maybe add a subplot.

Let's say your character is a superhero and needs to kill the evil villain Ruth Lexar to save Burgville. So she finds Ruth Lexar and kills her.

End of story. Not too choppy. Straightforward.

Also not very interesting.

More interesting is if she can't find Ruth Lexar, and then does find her later and suffers horribly during the fight, questions whether she should even be trying, eventually decides yes, she should, finds Ruth again--and in an epic battle defeats Ruth.

More interesting yet if she wrestles with questions along the way. Is it right to use power like this? Is it expected, since she is stronger than anyone else in Burgville? And smarter? And what about Love? Perhaps she has a subplot, falls for Doris Dane, and she and Doris wrestle with whether or not they belong together. Ultimately, our hero believes she cannot be with Doris--Doris must not even know her true identity--oh the anguish--and our hero then suffers silently. When it comes time to Vanquish Ruth, our hero must ask herself if she is any better than the villain. She may be trying to save the city, but she is doing this through murder.

That's more interesting. And longer.

TL;DR Try:fail cycles, Subplots, and introspection.

Bonus answer: Show don't tell. Showing always takes more words.

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