Please, Resist the Urge!

RUE used to mean only "regret and sorrow." But if you're a writer, it can also mean "Resist the Urge to Explain." Why? Because it's more fun to read, "A tear slid down Macy's cheek" than, "Macy was sad."

Jessica Nelson posted a helpful snippet about RUE lately, as she caught the explaining bug popping up in manuscripts she judged for a contest.

My husband is a world-class explain-aholic. I think it's the teaching gift in him. If he says, "I'm shopping on Monday this week instead of Wednesday," in half a second I've figured out why. But he MUST give me a five-minute explanation about this being the Forth of July weekend, and he wants to avoid the crowds shopping for their cookouts, and it will save him loads of time, blah, blah, blah...

Which isn't too dangerous for our marriage, other than that I occasionally get miffed and say, "I already figured that out; I don't need it explained. Do you think I'm a total numbskull?"

But it is dangerous in writing.  When we explain too much, we may not only bore our reader; we might insult their intelligence, implying they lack the brains to figure things out for themselves.


Reading is interactive entertainment. The more we allow our readers to enter into the story with their own imaginations, the more they'll be drawn in by our writing, and need to turn the page.

Whether you're a spouse with a teaching gift or you write, R.U.E. We'll love you for it.