Elmore Leonard once advised fledgling fiction writers to just omit the parts the readers typically skip over or skim in a book. So, I jotted down a list of what I tend to let my eyes drift by on the printed page.

Writing gurus preach to cut out the weather. Nope, I always like to know if it's sunny or rainy. Poems: I usually skip them. In fact, anything extra indented or italicized had better hold my attention at the first line, or I ditch it.

Journals, diaries, or letters: I can go either way on them. Lengthy character descriptions earn a pass since my brain can only process two or three things about any person's appearance.

Run-on paragraphs tire me out. I like the natural pauses that paragraphs impose on prose. Adverbs: I hate 'em thoroughly. Animal cruelty sends me jumping ahead to the next page. Ditto goes for rape scenes. Prologues bore me, while I'll read the Epilogues.

Here's a question: who notices the author's dedication page? I usually don't know or have heard of the dedicatee, but it's the author's most personal page. I'll browse the reference section or bibliography except more of them now cite web links that rot fast and go dead. Footnotes and endnotes can also pique my curiosity.

Which parts did you skip while reading your books?

Ed Lynskey
@edlynskey