Delivering rounded ideas

I recently got some rare feedback on a short story that I submitted to a major science fiction magazine.  That editor told me that the story had an intriguing concept, but that the story felt 'rushed'.

This was valuable feedback from a seasoned industry professional, and it sent me back to look at the story again.  And when I did, I realised he was right.  I had rushed the story.

Yet again, my impatience with what I see as extraneous description had got me into trouble.  Anxious to pitch into the action of the story, I'd got a sequence of jump-cuts between action scenes.  When I looked at this again, I could see that this made for a jarring read.  There was no change of tempo between the different scenes.  There were no linking sequels, places for the reader to catch their breath and pause before the pace picked up again.

When I rewrote the story I added in these linking passages.  But they weren't just descriptive links.  I made them do double duty.  Those quiet periods between the action were places where I could introduce relevant backstory.  And in this story, knowing the colony's history is key to understanding the action.  One of the things I did was extend an interview between the President and one of her senior security staff, and through that I told the reader that history.  The discussion allowed me to explore the ideology that drove the attacking forces.

This is part of the rounding-out of ideas which every story needs.  It's great to have a terrific set-up, but I need to work out its consequences, and how the story is shaped by that action.  So 'round' ideas need to explain why characters are doing things.  Those people might appear to the reader to be evil, but to themselves their actions make sense.  But for them to make sense to the reader the writer needs to reveal their motivations, which in turn are probably driven by their past history.

Rounding out ideas calls on a writer to delve into the heads of his or her characters.  To ask why they  feel a certain way about the issues in the story.  What is shaping their emotional responses to the events of the story?

And that shouldn't be just a bald statement of how they feel.  It's about showing their anger, their fear, their sweaty palms.  It's seeing the world through their eyes and mind.   Looking at the story world through your character's eyes helps greatly with the task of delivering rounded ideas.