Are You Burying the Lede in Your Book?

Photo by Unsplash

Photo by Unsplash

After 5 years of picking and putting down the same book over and over, I choose to finish it this time. 

Some books have to hit you at the right time, which I told myself was what happened with this novel before. But this time, I decided to read until the end. 

However, what was supposed to be a champagne popping book for me — food writing, history, and Manhattan — was more of a flat LaCroix after it had been left open for too long.

Very quickly, I remembered why I struggled with the story to begin with; I knew there was something missing, something the reader wasn’t being told.

The dots weren’t connecting like I expected them too, and I would re-read pages because I thought I had missed something. Nope. I didn’t miss anything. The story just wasn’t there.

For 300 pages, there’s this buildup of the character’s past, and then you’re finally clued into this “big” reveal. By that point, I didn’t care what happened to her in the past, present or future. 

In journalism, it’s called burying the lede — “when the newsworthy part of a story fails to appear at the beginning, where it’s expected”.

It’s easy to see why it happens, even in books. As a writer, you want to keep your readers hooked. You don’t want to spoil the journey. But by burying what your book is really about, you may leave readers frustrated and throwing your book back on the shelf half-read.

And you didn’t set out to complete a manuscript to have it be an unfulfilling experience for your readers.

So, let’s look at why you’re holding back details and how to fix it.

Why the Mystery?

Unless you’re writing a suspense novel, chances are you don’t have to be so mysterious.

Readers want to be on the journey with you. Why take them blindfolded to a destination you have to then explain like a bad monologue at the end of a detective novel? You don’t have to make it so hard on the reader.

Case in point: Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express

While Christie believed her novels gave readers more than enough clues to solve her mysteries, but unless you were the author herself, there’s no imaginable way you’d be able to crack the case.

The level of backstory and intricacies have you screaming (or had me, at least): How would I ever know that?!

Christie aside, most writers are so afraid of revealing too much, that the opposite happens. They hold too many details back, so the reader doesn’t know they should care about the story in the first place.

Know the Story You’re Telling

Another reason why writers struggle with burying the lede, is they don’t even know the story they’re telling. There’s a vague idea, but the heartbeat of it hasn’t been discovered yet. This is where most writers fall, even when they think they know.

The surest sign of this is that they struggle to explain what the story is about and repeatedly say: I’ve said this over and over. I don’t know why it’s so hard to understand. 

That’s because it's not on the page. What you have perfectly mapped out in your head isn’t clear on paper, and that’s the only place it matters.

As Albert Einstein said: If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.

How to Avoid This in Food Memoirs and Cookbooks

While food memoir is more closely tied to fiction than cookbooks, it’s common to bury the lede with both genres. Memoir is tricky because you lived it, so you either assume the reader knows what you know, or you’re afraid that no one really cares about what happened to you. Both are dangerous because you’ve decided what experience the reader will have, and it’s not up to you. Your only responsibility is to write the best version of your story possible with readers in mind, but after that, you have to release the outcome. 

With cookbooks, it’s not enough to put out a book with a bunch of recipes. You need a strong “why”, and more often than not, it’s the hardest thing to nail down. This can muddy up your proposal or cookbook writing process leaving agents, publishers and even readers completely confused about why they picked up your work in the first place.

One question you can ask yourself when you get stuck on whether or not you’re burying the lede is: Why can’t I let this story go?

Then write out your answer, and start with the big things first. Just get straight to it, and trust that the shocking or surprising information isn't even the best part of your story.

Why You Need to Let Your Readers in on the Secret

Back to my 5 year reading journey from before.

One reason I was so upset about waiting so long to find out what happened, was the jacket copy touted a different story.

The book was supposed to be about a woman following her foodie aspirations to New York and uncovering a treasure of culinary history. What it became was a woman who was mysteriously running from her past, and the food and history part were facades. 

And the mystery of the protagonist’s past? Her sister died in a weird accident. This major moment felt more like a slap in the face.

It also didn’t have a lot to do with her overall journey. There was no benefit to the reader by keeping that a secret. What would have been more fun for the reader? Her having a secret, some kind of shame about her sister’s death, that crippled her ability to move forward. 

Don’t keep the juicy details to yourself. Most of the time, what you’re keeping to yourself is what you think the story is about. 

But by keeping your reader in the dark, you end up telling a muddy shamble of a story that’s no fun for anyone.

If someone is picking your book up, they want to go on a journey with you — not be told about the importance of the story at the end because you didn’t want to “give away too much too soon”.

Invite your readers into what the story is about early and often. Your book deserves better than being one that takes 5 years to read.

Amanda Polick
Writer. Traveler. California.
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