The Massive Varnished Boom

From an earlier post; “Once, I had to duck under a massive varnished boom stretching right across the boardwalk. It’s fun to feel part of the action.”

This post sat without comment for a while. Was this a tease? Probably. Let me explain. Why would I write “…a massive varnished boom stretching right across the boardwalk”? If it stretches all the way across a boardwalk it is, by implication, “massive.” So, of course, in the final draft I left the word “massive” out of the description. Sorry, reader, but I got you on that post? Another problem with “massive” is that it is a relative term. You need to contrast it with something smaller. My description did not do that, so out it goes.

PS: It was important to describe the boom as “varnished” since this fits the wooden boat regatta. And, “It’s fun to feel part of the action” draws the reader into Claudine’s reaction to the event and the boom she needed to duck under. Removing “massive” was an easy task on this edit/review.

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