Critique about my dialog killed my favorite scene

I used to write these long, flowery conversations where characters just talked around each other for pages. Then a guy on a writing forum told me my dialog was 'working too hard' and that real people say things like 'pass the salt' not big speeches about feelings. I cut a 3 page fight scene down to 7 lines of clipped one-word answers and it hit way harder. Has anyone else gotten feedback that completely changed how you approach a specific part of writing?

2 comments

2 Comments

john_cooper7h ago

Wait you cut a 3 page fight scene down to 7 lines? That's insane lol. I bet it stung at first but man that must have made the whole thing snap into focus. Props to whoever gave you that brutal feedback because it sounds like it totally worked.

grant_allen8554m ago

Nah, I kinda feel like those 3 pages had some real heat in them...