This is a short novel, and it focuses on only a few events from the months that pass.

There is one chapter I would want to add and one scene. First, I would like a chapter in which cousins Daisy and Nick go to lunch in New York City together after Daisy and Gatsby rekindle their romance. I would like to hear Nick ask Daisy about her first romance with Gatsby in 1917. What we have are Jordan's memories of the summer, as told to Nick, so we are really getting the story third hand. What did Daisy herself really think of Gatsby, in her own words? Did she really love him, and since it seems she did, what was it that attracted her to him? We get many of Nick's speculations about what Daisy meant to Gatsby, but not what Daisy saw in Gatsby. It would also be great if Nick could ask Daisy what she sees in Gatsby now. Is the affair just a way to get revenge on Tom for having an affair? Or does Daisy something attractive and positive in Gatsby? If so, what is this?

Second, I would like at least a brief scene in which Nick talks more about the following, which he saw at Gatsby's deserted house after Gatsby has been killed:

On the white steps an obscene word, scrawled by some boy with a piece of brick, stood out clearly in the moonlight and I erased it, drawing my shoe raspingly along the stone.

Maybe Nick could talk to Jordan about what that word was (what was it and what does it say about how people perceived Gatsby?) and find out some more about Jordan's feelings over the events that occurred, especially Gatsby's death.

It seems to me we don't get enough of what the female characters are thinking and feeling, and an extra chapter and/or scenes could help with that.

I would write a chapter that delves into Gatsby's criminal activities with Wolfsheim. Much is implied in this regard (bootlegging and bond theft), but very few facts are provided. How did Gatsby actually acquire so much money in such a short period of time? Did he "manage" others, acting as Wolfsheim's front man with groups like the American Legion, or did he participate in specific criminal acts? Had Gatsby actually killed anyone during his "work" with Wolfsheim? Quite an interesting portrait of the criminal activity rampant in the Roaring Twenties could be developed in such a chapter. These details could come to us from Gatsby through Nick. Wolfsheim certainly wouldn't tell Nick anything about his "business," but by the end of the novel when his defenses are down, Gatsby shares everything with Nick.

I think that I would probably write a chapter on that shows the couples in their more private moments, which would serve to show why the characters are dissatisfied in their marriages--perhaps one that showed an interaction between Tom and Myrtle or Daisy and Tom. Gatsby provides some details about these couples, but the conclusions that we draw about these 4 people and their marriages are based off of very little information (which is actually one reason why I love the book!). This would be difficult because Nick, as the narrator, would have to be present during these moments--Nick's character, from what we know, would do his best to avoid these situations, rendering this chapter nearly impossible to write! It would be interesting to read though if one could pull it off!