The Place For My Writers Notes

original posting: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 14:46:24 EDT

[for those who haven't had the pleasure before--first, a few words from me. then the answers you might have thought you would find here. and, if we're lucky, something to end it all...with a BANG!]

the smoke hovers. your eyes sting.

the ancient figure that ushered you into this strange cavern of shadows seems to have vanished while you were blinking.

and...

in the east, sunrise blares up from the darkened hulks of sleeping mammoths and other detritus of the city. streaks slide in and up, widen, and slowly feed blood into the dark sky, beating it into blue life for another day.

in the west, a hungry thunderstorm slavers and scratches across the quivering backs of foothills. from time to time, it roars out a challenge to the world, afraid of nothing and showing it. do not tease it, for it is cornered and sorely fearful, and its bite is worse than its bark.

in the north, the frozen wastes quietly snore their way into crystalline dreams of glory. They glint, remembering the ancient days when ice gripped the wide spaces to the south in a clean white glove of tender glacial calm. They crackle in the cold air, as ears ache and noses drip, with sympathy for the poor enslaved relatives forced into cubes by human technology. They snort, nightmares recurring, as they think of being dunked in soda or alcohol at the hands of a human. Imagine! melting, melting, turning into mere water, just for human tastes.

in the south, outlaws cuss, horses rear, and other quaint relics of a mythical past fan their six-guns and stand tall, no matter how short they may be...

all this, while in the mystical write direction, words tumble and shimmer, coating ideas with fractal colors and incoherence, cracked! and limited by punctuation, mere passing letters on the river of ink...

in the center, spinning slowly inside a tangled web of grammar, lies...

[oh, heck, let me put down my tropes and yack at you.

this is writers. glad you could drop by. feel free to take part in the continuing mailstorm, and don't feel too surprised if things aren't exactly what you expected. just keep on writing, keep on reading, and you may be surprised to find that while it isn't what you thought you wanted, it may be exactly what you needed...:-]

and with a flashing clash of ? and !, he brought the wild sentence to a .

and there was a submission:

the beginning.
by a. writer

(next, your words, please?...yes, fill in the blank and send it soon!)

tink
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[Please feel free to print this FAQ and keep a copy for when you have questions! In fact, the author would be pleased if you did that.]

The meat in this sandwich - v. 17, July 4, 1995

[long out out of warranty, and so removed]
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the end with a bang?

well, ignoring the bad jokes which the phrase may suggest, let me recommend:

Write until it hurts.
Then write about the hurting.
Submit, and submit again.
And bang!

they sold happily ever after...

that's it!

Chapter 15: Contemplative Scenes

Walking through Make a Scene by Jordan Rosenfeld, in Part Three about scene types, suspense scenes, and dramatic scenes, we now turn our attention to contemplative scenes.

"Contemplation -- the act of careful consideration or examination of thoughts and feelings and smaller details -- is the antithesis of action." Rosenfeld suggests that good contemplative scenes:

• have more interior monologue than action or dialogue
• are slow-paced, letting the reader get a deep intimate look at the protagonist's inner life
• focus on the protagonist interacting with self and setting more than other characters
• give the protagonist time to digest what is happened and decide what to do next
• let the character reflect and the reader catch their breath before or after an intense scene

These are good for thoughtful consideration and reflection, but they're also slow. So you need to balance the pace.

Interior monologue is the mark of contemplative scenes. The protagonist is thinking, and the reader learns things about the plot and character from those thoughts. The old convention of italics for interior monologue is usually now simple, elegant exposition. Remember that interior monologue is very intimate, with the reader inside the mind of the character.

Contemplative scenes often open with interior monologue, setting description, or transitional action. You need to let the reader know quickly that we're going to slow down.

If you start to contemplative scene with interior monologue, make sure that the thoughts are related to the scene that just ended. Don't make readers guess what the protagonist is reflecting about.

Setting description, on the other hand, gives the reader a little bit of physical reality, then dives into the thoughts. Use the setting details to kick off the character of thinking and feeling. This little bit of interaction with the setting can provide an alternative to action for contemplative scenes.

Sometimes, of course, you can do a little bit of transitional action, usually finishing up the action of the last scene. Then slow down and contemplate.

Character and plot -- a contemplative scene is really there to give in-depth understanding of the character, and how they are reacting to whatever's going on. You want a contemplative scene to focus on the protagonist:

• having realistic and appropriate responses to an event
• struggling with something that has happened recently or is about to happen
• making a plan, thinking about options, or coming to a decision

One of the difficulties of a contemplative scene is keeping dramatic tension high. Mostly, you do that by including internal conflict, including unspecified dangers, or creating an eerie or tense atmosphere. Danger or mystery on the horizon, or settings that make the reader nervous, are likely to keep the tension high.

Setting is often used to provide mood and ambience for contemplation scenes. Setting details can provide balance for the thoughts and feelings. You can keep the contemplation in touch with reality with occasional detail of the setting.

Contemplative scenes usually end with a little return of energy and action. You might end with a sudden action cliffhanger, or with a moment of decision. You can end with a surprise, or a bit of foreshadowing pointing to what's coming next. You need to set up the next scene, and get the reader ready to go again.

Rosenfeld's checkpoints for contemplative scenes:

1. Does the contemplative scene balance or slow down action?
2. Does the contemplative scene signal that it is a contemplative scene as quickly as possible?
3. Does the contemplative scene focus on the inner life of the protagonist?
4. Does the protagonist grapple with a conflict, dilemma, or decision?
5. Are setting details used to create dramatic tension and establish a mood?
6. Does the end of the scene return the reader to action?

Next we will be taking a look at dialogue scenes, but for right now, let's reflect on those contemplative scenes.

Assignments? Probably the first question is whether you want to use a contemplative scene or not? While Rosenfeld suggests that traditional literary fiction uses them, he also admits that most genre and other writing uses them very sparingly if at all. I think in most of these you're more likely to see the contemplative paragraph.

In any case, you might try looking at a book that you enjoy and identifying a contemplative scene. Or take a piece of your writing and consider how you might use a contemplative scene in it. How would you introduce it, and how would you spend time letting the protagonist think out loud without boring the reader? How do you mark the ending of a contemplative scene, and return to the car chases?

'saright? Something to think about, eh?
and write!

When we write, we introduce unknown friends to each other.