The Place For My Writers Notes

original posting 22 April 2008

Ramp up the action: Keep your scenes active to give your readers the heart-pounding intensity they demand.

That's the banner headline on the Writing Clinic article by Paul Bagdon in Writers Digest, Oct. 2004, pp. 55-57. Bagdon looks at the first chapter of a thriller , but I think the advice is good for any writer.

First, open with action. The piece that Bagdon is looking at has a little teaser about what that day was supposed to be, setting the stage for something cataclysmic to happen, but then it spends several paragraphs on background material. Bagdon says, "The problem is that now -- on the very first page -- isn't the time to present that material. The reader needs to be hooked -- dragged directly into the adventure --to the point where there's no possibility of her putting the book back on the shelf."

So the initial problem is to avoid spending too much time doing setup and background. Jump into the middle of the action and keep going. Especially in a novel, there's plenty of time later to come back and explain whatever background is really necessary, but the beginning of the story -- the place where you are convincing a reader that they really want to read this book -- that's not where you want to slow down and dump that information up all over the page. So cut, cut, cut.

"It's the writer's obligation to create dynamic and engaging situations and scenes in the first paragraphs and pages of an action-adventure novel. Readers (and editors) not only expect such leads --they demand them."

Second, consider the mix of Active vs. Passive. Readers of thrillers are looking for action, what Bagdon calls "good ol' spine-tingling, I-can't-put-this-book-down action." But he adds that in the mix of the thriller we also need a fully articulated protagonist and a plot with rich enough dynamics to support all that tension, intrigue, and violence.

Next, Bagdon points out that action needs to be written in an active way, presented as direct experience perceived by a character through physical senses, emotions, fears, and feelings to make it vital and engaging. Don't let up -- keep the reader right there beside the person having the experience. Beware of stepping back and narrating or describing, keep it acutely active. Write totally in the protagonist's senses and emotions. Make it purely active, a vehicle that lets the reader move, feel, hear, and see what the protagonist does.

But ?

Not just nonstop feverishness and vehemence. "Unintrusive narrative is as much an essential part of a successful thriller as is dialogue or description."

"Visceral, active scenes keep your thriller focused and provide the reader with the heart-pounding intensity he seeks."

So, we've really got two simple pieces of advice. Start with action, and then make sure that your action is really active!

And, of course, write!

When we write, we act.