When we open a novel and step out of our own lives into the fictional life of
another, I’m sure that you, like me, have certain expectations. However, if that fictional life is monotonous, we’ll close the
book and find a new one that fires our imagination.
One way to stop readers falling asleep is to create variety between scenes. A scene is a prolonged moment, resembling real time on
the page, and scenes are divided into two basic categories – dramatic and
static. Yet this isn’t as simple as alternating car
chase/fight/screaming argument scenes with sipping tea in a restaurant.
The drama in a scene doesn’t only come from physical
action. A scene that on the surface appears calm can be filled with conflict. If your heroine is sipping that tea with the wife of the man she’s
having an affair with, a writer can find plenty of opportunity for drama. How
much inner conflict will be revealed?
Does the wife know? Two elegantly attired women, false smiles for the benefit of onlookers, yet talking in low voices as one confronts the other isn’t visually sensational but is filled with
tension. Make them best friends or sisters and you have the potential for a
real battle. Dramatic scenes can be used to delve into suppressed emotions, or
hidden conflicts, and they’re excellent opportunities to show, rather than tell, the reader what’s happening.
Yet static scenes aren’t merely gap fillers between
the dramatic actions. They are quieter than the suspenseful scenes, but
unless you want to spill into the melodrama that non-stop action presents, characters, and readers, need to catch their breath. Static scenes
offer respite, a change of pace, a chance to provide details that would be difficult to
place elsewhere, and allow space for conflicts to build. Nevertheless, they’re not
tableaux and shouldn’t stall the forward momentum of the narrative.
One
exercise easy to practice is to consider what kind of scene you prefer to read
– action or descriptive – and then examine your own work and see if there’s a
dominance of your favourite. Looking at the balance between the two types of
scene lets you know where you might need to make changes to achieve a good
rhythm between drama and stasis.
Writing
Update
As I’ve
said before (and will probably say again) this writing thing is addictive, and
I find the process of using words to create images that tell a story absorbing and exciting. Currently I’m going through my WIP, The
Unforgiveness of Blood, looking at the dramatic and static scenes using
highlighter pens; green for static, orange for transitions (when they’re there)
and red for drama. My pages are now covered with swathes of colour making
it easy to see the swing between tension and rest.
(I was going to add a photo but the pages are pretty
messy and covered with scribbles, so for the sake of keeping the post neat, I
omitted the photo.)
I’m also checking my telling sentences. Telling is vital to the rhythm of writing a story - unless you’re looking to detail every blink of your character’s eye from the moment of birth. I’m searching for ways to give my telling sentences more impact – either through word choice or changing the sentence. All good clean fun!
I’m still fiddling with the cover and working on the
font as I want the title to stand out and not be obscured by the cover art.
And
sending hurry up prayers to the god/goddess of beta readers.
Today’s
Haiku
briar rose petals
confetti the hedgerows – dance
to summer breezes
Useful Links
This post has some great advice if you’re looking for an
editor:
A clear helpful post about pace in novels.
I’d love it if you popped over to Wattpad and read any of my posted
stories...just click on the links to the right.
Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku
Thanks for visiting my blog, and please do leave a comment.
To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who
write, good writing.
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