This short clip of Ira Glass is such an important key to good storytelling.
A story is just a series of events. “This happened, which led to this, which led to this…”
That’s the only crucial element you can NEVER sacrifice. Everything else is extra. If you’re going to add emotions, humor, themes, lessons, rich descriptions, you have to make sure it doesn’t completely derail what makes the story a story.
It’s like a Christmas tree. The series of events is the actual tree. Everything you’re going to add to spice it up is decoration. You have to be careful with your placement because you don’t want to completely hide the tree. You also don’t want to put so much on that the tree falls over.
This happened, and then this, and then this, and then this. Keep the action moving. Take short pitstops to add some fun to the trip but never forget that the most important part is that you’re actually going somewhere.