writercises | Entries tagged with pace

Original Posting 2022/3/28

Here we go again! This time, Raymond turns his sights on size. How long should your scenes be? The title of chapter 3 is Size-wise: Determining Scene Length. He starts off by suggesting that beginning writers tend to make their scenes either too long or too short. Too long destroys the pace and momentum, while too short means readers can’t get involved. So…

What’s the right length? As long as the reader is paying attention and not one bit longer. Two things, the purpose of the scene and its position in the scenes, help determine the right length.

Back in chapter one, Raymond talked about the purposes of scenes. Here, we’re looking at how that affects length. Not so much word counts, as how long can you keep the reader’s attention. Attention span is the key here! Suggestions…

Go short for information dumps, scenes that explain the plot. Also, keep technical information short! Third, scenic descriptions can be short. Finally, erotic scenes should be short, unless you are deliberately trying for comedy. For all of these, imply or suggest, more than giving us every single detail ad nauseum.

Long? Conversations, especially when they reveal character. Emotional scenes, too, can be good at length. Suspense! When you keep the reader dangling, waiting, wondering…

So, that’s some suggestions or hints about length. What about positioning? Well, Raymond suggests it’s like visual arts. Contrasting elements bring out the differences, while similar elements tend to blend. So, put some contrast in to keep it interesting.

His final word, or summary, of this chapter, starts with a reminder. It’s simple. You don’t have to determine the length right away! When you start to write a scene, just write it. Then, later, you can stretch it out or trim it down to suit.

His workshop starts by pointing out that every scene has a hot spot, a moment that the scene is built around. So, he suggests, start by finding that hot spot, and draw a box around it (or highlight it, for electronic media). Then start reading backwards from there. Does that paragraph contribute to the hot spot? Underline or highlight anything that you think might not be useful. Then read the paragraph before that, and repeat. By going backwards, you get a different view of what the writing contributes to this scene, and can be more objective about trimming or changing anything that doesn’t help.

So, there you go! How long should that scene be? Well…

Write!

mbarker

Original Posting 6/7/2019

Writer's Digest, December 1993, had an article on pages 37-39 by Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet with this title. The subtitle says, "Is straightforward linear structure (this happened, then that happened, then…) dooming your stories to rejection? Here's how to put your characters on a time machine, and catch the attention of jaded editors."It starts out by posing some questions. Suppose you wrote a story with 10 scenes, with the first eight building up to the climactic ninth and a denouement. Classic linear structure, but are all 10 scenes of equal dramatic value? Are they all going to get the same emotional response from your readers? No!All right, suppose the first five scenes are necessary back story, but they're just exposition, slogging details. Do you think the reader or editor will take the time to get to that high point in the sixth scene?Guess what. Readers want fast and early gratification. The Internet age means instant gratification. So… You gotta pay off early. Hook your audience early. One way to do this – tell the story out of chronological sequence. Pay attention to narrative time, flashbacks, and flash forwards.Then they outline a simple story in linear scenes. It's okay, straightforward sequencing, steady pace, climax. Continuity! The problem is that often the writer puts into many details.Okay, suppose you decide you want to try nonlinear. Start with three components. The present moment, the bridge, and the reflected upon moment. Present moment… Pick one! The bridge is when your point of view character starts to reflect or think about an event in the past or the future. Past event, flashback. Future event, flash forward. Be careful, flashbacks and flash forwards are not reminiscing or visions. You're going to dramatize, show us, that past or future scene. Establish setting, provide dialogue, describe the action.Okay, what can you build with those components? First, a frame. Starting the present, then jumped to a long flashback. You may or may not finish by returning to the present. Most of this is linear, just with the opening and closing frame out of joint. It's clear, as the continuity and pacing of linear storytelling, and you've got that hook that makes up the frame!Second, multiple flashbacks. Starting the present, and every now and then drop back to a scene from the past. How many flashbacks? Sometimes people say just two, some people have more, and you can always do a flash forward.So, when do you go time traveling? First, consider your audience. How sophisticated are they, are they going to enjoy a little rearrangement of time? Second, does it contribute to your story? Third, look at your story and figure out the best place to start. The flashback lets you start wherever you want, instead of strictly starting at the beginning.Now, don't play with time just because you want to try the technique. Sure, you're a great writer, but… Story first, technique should never be visible. Also, don't confuse your readers. Make sure that whenever you change times, you make it clear to the reader when this scene is happening. Work on effective bridges. Beware of the "had" problem. Stories are usually told in past tense, so it might seem as if a flashback should be in that nasty past perfect or whatever it is, with had jumped and so forth. But once you get over the bridge, drop back to simple past.Finally, experiment. Try out possibilities, combine reminiscences and flashbacks. Make yourself feel comfortable with these techniques, then use them to tell great stories.So, that's the article. It's basically a look at how you can use flashbacks and control of your time to rearrange your story to be more effective. Instead of "Once upon a time," start with, "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down..." then back up and tell us about the three little pigs building their houses…

mbarker

Original posting May 10, 2019

Writer's Digest, June 1990, pages 18-22, has an article by J. Kevin Wolfe, about writing humor. The title is "The Six Basics of Writing Humorously." The subtitle goes into more detail. "You can write funny articles, books, scripts, greeting cards – whatever – even if you don't consider yourself a comedian. Here's how to capture on paper the wealth of humor that waits within you."Sounds interesting! So let's see…Kevin starts by telling us that "deep inside each of us lurks a Bozo." He assures us that anybody can write funny. "All that's required to write comedy is a sense of humor." Aha!Then he turns to that burning question, "What's so funny?" Unfortunately, analyzing comedy often kills it. But, Kevin recommends thinking about what's funny in yourself. Your quirks, your habits, your biases, your point of view can be great sources of material. Think about what irritates you about other people, too. You might laugh at their shortcomings, but you can also look at why that irritates you. What about the problems in your own life, the tricks that fate plays on you?"None of us is perfect; our flaws make us laughable. Write a few jokes about yourself. Humor is many times a painfully honest comment about ourselves, individually and as a species."Fairly often, humorists are the butt of their own jokes. "Our lives are filled with events that can be translated into humorous stories and anecdotes. Look for them."Pay attention to your specialties. Whatever you know best, that's also what you are best qualified to joke about."Whether the humor you write grows from within you or comments on the world we live in, we can generalize to say that people laugh at two things: surprise and misfortune."Surprise? Put together two things that don't fit together. The Pope skateboarding. "Surprise humor lead you in one direction and then takes a sharp turn. When a skateboard goes flying past, you don't expect the Pope!Misfortune? The rich and famous, the poor and ethnic, life where we are, being our self. Think about the butt of the joke. Somebody gets slammed. "There is usually an element of cruelty involved here, either verbal or physical, subtle or blatant."Sometime surprise and misfortune get mixed up. Misfortune can be surprising, and vice versa.Next, Kevin takes a look at the building blocks of humorous writing. He assures us that deciding to introduce humor into your writing is more important than exactly which kind of humor you are going to write. A book with occasional humor, a television sitcom or stand-up comedy routine with a lot of humor, the big difference is the amount of humor, the intensity and style of the humor. But they use the same techniques. "To produce laughs, use these elements."The key is the joke. Just like the sentence, "the joke is the element that humor is built from." So, what's a joke? Well, anything that makes you laugh. Pay attention, take it apart, pinpoint what made you laugh, and there's a joke!Now, jokes may seem complex, but they're really made up of two parts. The setup, and the punchline. The setup introduces the elements needed to get the joke. It makes a little bubble, that the punchline bursts. The setup introduces something we relate to. The punchline delivers the surprise, casting an absurd light on that thing. Sometimes setups present a humorous concept, and then the punchline comments on that concept. For example…Setup: Mattel has a new doll – Teenage Mutant Ninja Barbie.Punchline: She's the girl next-door, provided you live next door to a paramilitary gun shop.Sometimes there are implied setups, or punchlines that start right at the beginning and then grow. Learn to spot these concealed jokes, and then you can do it yourself. The examples he gives focus on building humor, with a repeated refrain, that then gets reversed in the final punchline."It is often said that effective humor lies in the timing, the second basic element of humor-writing." Timing? Well, compare it to music. When jokes are told out loud, the setup establishes a rhythm. Stay on topic, keep the momentum going, then… Deliver the punchline. "The timing of a verbal joke also depends on the beat in the rhythm that you skipped before and after a punchline." Pause to give the audience time to absorb the setup and get ready for the punchline. The second pause? Give them a chance to laugh!Now, how do you print or write a pause? Well, sometimes a period does the job. A comma followed by and or or might do it."The sad thing about the 60s was that the three most remembered voices of the decade were those of John F. Kennedy, Walter Cronkite, and Mr. Ed."The punchline should always be the last example."When writing a humorous story, try this method to skip a beat: place some brief action in the dialogue between the set up and the punchline." Not too long. Sometimes a he said or she said is enough. Then, end the paragraph after the punchline.The third building block? Internal logic. Admittedly, your humor is going to push situations to extremes, but the logic of the situation should remain consistent. You might start with an absurd premise, but then keep it constant.The fourth element is somewhat related, internal consistency. Usually you want to stick with one type of humor, don't mix them up. Biting satire with a slapstick food fight? No. So if you start with satire, end with satire.The fifth building block, though, is that your audience expects you to be unpredictable. If you're not unpredictable, the audience may be surprised, but they're not going to laugh. Make sure the audience can't predict where you are going. When your punchlines get stale, change. Old jokes are usually predictable. Use your own fresh material. Now, plenty of humor is based on clichés, commonplace situations, stereotypes. They're predictable, and don't take very much set up. You can make them unpredictable by twisting or parodying.Last building block? "The best humor is concise." Make it short, make it quick."As I said, all humor begins with the joke, and so must you. Search out the humorous stories you have to tell. But tell them carefully; trust your audience and your writing ability. Be confident: if your writing is funny, the audience knows when to laugh."There's a sidebar that takes apart humorous stories. He looks at four different stories and analyzes them in terms of four elements: a funny opening, colorful narration, colorful characters, and a concise plot. Let's see… nope, I'm not going to try to summarize that. He's got examples of each of these, and he points out exaggeration, reverses, quirks, outrageous parodies, humorous flaws, irony, all that stuff! It's a great introduction to humor in a very short space, but you gotta read it yourself.Okay? An exercise to go with this? Well, you could take something you've read that was humorous, and see how they've used the six building blocks, jokes with the set up and punchline, timing, internal logic, internal consistency, unpredictability, and conciseness. Or, you could take something you're working on and try adding some humor. Maybe just someone telling a joke to another person, maybe a sub plot that is humorous itself. Either way, enjoy the laughs.tink

mbarker

Original Posting Aug. 19, 2017

Writer's Digest, March 1999, on pages 30-33 and page 52, have an article by William J. Reynolds with the title Keeping Them in Suspense. All about how to build a page turner.

Reynolds starts out by posing the challenge that you want your readers to say, "I've gotta know." That's the essence of suspense. And to keep them turning pages, you want suspense. Compelling characters, plausible plot, intriguing subplots, richly evoked settings, appealing writing… Yes, you want those too. But suspense is what gives fiction that kick.

Now, he suggests you start by setting up three different sizes of suspense, just like soft drinks: small, medium, and large. Watch out for supersize? Anyway, most stories include all three sizes in different places. Maybe start with some small suspense, I wonder what is really going on. Then add some mortal danger, and get to medium-sized suspense. And build to large-sized suspense, who is this masked man? And, you might have a supersize twist.

Next, Reynolds suggests you plan a roller coaster ride. Waves of suspense! Start slow, build to a peak, drop, build again, drop, and so forth. Give your readers a bit of a breather, some release, interim resolutions.

But where does suspense come from? Well, what is the obvious source? Plot. But sometimes suspense grows out of the characters, too. Their actions and reactions, their motivations. "So suspenseful elements in the plot generate suspenseful episodes that grow out of the characters' personalities." And how the characters respond or react drives forward the plot, generating new suspenseful episodes to which our characters must react." Even the place – setting – may contribute suspense. Earthquakes, bandits, weather, all of these things can add suspense.

And, you need to keep track of your pace. Your style of writing, the viewpoint, the words and the way you use them, all can build suspense. Long, slow passages turn into short, telegraphic bursts.

And the last page – well, the resolution of your story – is a key part of the suspense. Watch out for inadvertently leaving your reader hanging on the edge of a cliff, you do want to resolve events satisfactorily. Not necessarily everything. And you do want the end to come quickly after the climactic shock. A few loose ends is not a problem. Give us a satisfactory conclusion, logical, perfectly in keeping with everything that's gone before. Then don't blunt it.

"Most important, we finally found out what we've gotta know."

Stop.

Practice? Take that work in progress, and go over it, looking at the suspense. Do you have some questions that the reader has just gotta know about right from the start? Do they build, and get resolved, and build again? If you've got some sections where there's no suspense, add a dash. And make sure that when we get that resolution, we don't spend too long hanging around trying to tie up every little loose end. Mostly...

WRITE!
tink

mbarker

Original Posting March 5, 2017

Writer's Digest October 1995 on pages 35-37, and page 60, have an article by William H. Lovejoy with the title "Creating Action Scenes That Move." The subtitle is "The two worst things that can happen in action scenes are for the events to be unbelievable or to have the action come to a screeching halt. Before your hero takes a step, learn the techniques to keep the action moving."

That sounds exciting, doesn't it? William starts off with two heroes – well, a hero and heroine. The hard-boiled detective is in a fistfight. But, with one punch he knocks out his opponent, and readers just don't believe it. On the other hand, our tired heroine is running through the dark forest, and runs, and runs, and the reader just get bored. So what happened? Well, here are the tips from William.

Get Real. Unless you're writing science fiction and fantasy, you need to obey real physical constraints. Hand-to-hand personal confrontations usually are short. Make sure you remember the physical capabilities of your character. Even the greatest hero, probably gets hurt a little bit. Deal realistically with weapons. Most of us need research.

Get their hearts pumping. Words and pace make speed. Keep it moving. Paragraphs, sentences, words get shorter. Make it faster. Simple words. Read it aloud, and make sure the pace and rate go faster and faster and faster…

Make them talk. Dialogue! You can inject uncertainty, keep the readers aware of what's happening, and dialogue is just more interesting. It needs to sound right.

Use some restraint. You want unusual, one-of-a-kind action scenes. Don't just repeat things. No gratuitous violence, all right. There has to be a reason for an action scene that's violent. "The purpose of the scene must be clear – to evoke a response and readers, to move the plot along, to reveal character traits, or whatever."

Prepare the reader, research the weapons, and pump up the pace! Avoid unbelievable or boring, and make your readers happy!

There we go. An action scene! Let's see. Sports, war, avoiding the runaway sheep, even chopping and dicing vegetables for dinner, there's plenty of action to go around. So if you want to practice, pick your action, lay in a couple or three characters, and... ring the bell, and may the best pepper steak win!

Go ahead. Write my day.
tink

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 5 April 2009

Tags for the dialogue

Writer's Digest, November 2005, pages 20 and 21, in the Fiction Essentials column by Nancy Kress, talks about Who Said That? Not so much what they said, as how do you tag the dialogue. So here's Nancy's thoughts:

Substitutes for "said" Lots of people try using synonyms or substitutes for said. Most of the time, it's a mistake. Said is almost invisible. However, occasionally you may want to use a substitute that identifies a tone of voice. Shouts, whispers, murmurs, and screams, for example, may need a different verb. Just don't overdo it -- most of your dialogue is just said.
The great adverb controversy. This is almost as controversial, with Tom Swifties as the culprit for those who recommend wiping out adverbs when using said. In many cases, the dialogue should carry the meaning. Which makes the adverb redundant. But sometimes they add something. Nancy offers the example: "I did try to kill you, yes," he said tenderly. That little "tenderly" at the end raises some questions that leaving it off would hide.
Avoiding tags completely. Sometimes you have character actions. "You don't have to add anything when the action identifies who said it." Or when you have two people going back and forth. Although if they talk too long, and don't have different vocal styles, toss in a tag to help keep the reader oriented. And of course, if there are more than two people or it is ambiguous who is talking, use said.
Pacing. Sometimes you want to slow down the dialogue and emphasize key points. Adding a tag, or even a interspersed chunk of action and description, can slow it down. You might not think he said or she said do very much, but they do slow it down just a bit.

Tags are tricky. It's easy to overdo, ornamenting the dialogue with unnecessary character twitches. At the same time, you need enough to keep the reader oriented and interested. You don't want floating heads chattering away.

As an exercise, you might take a look at a book or story that had some dialogue that you really liked. See how they handled the tags. Then try to write a scene yourself using mostly dialogue. Take a hard look at the way you use tags.

Current Mood: said

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 8 March 2009

Yakkity-yack

Writer's Digest, April 2006, Fiction Essentials column by James Scott Bell pages 20 and 21 talks about dialogue. It's not just for talking! In the writer's hand, it can set moods, change the pace, and make theme deeper. So how do you make your character's dialogue really work.

First, use the dialogue to set and support the mood. "Dialogue that's consistent with the mood of the novel can help pull readers into emotional moments and deepen the reading experience." Look at the dialogue independently of the action beats and description -- what mood does it set? Now revise so that the tone of the dialogue complements the action.

Second, use dialogue to speed up or slow things down. Short verbal exchanges with few action beats read fast. Use that to speed things up. Or if you want to slow things down, add in action beats, thoughts and reactions, and descriptions. Or of course you can make the dialogue longer. Aunt Sally's rambling version could slow down anything! Just make sure that it's true to the character.

And third, dialogue can reflect the theme. The characters are thinking about things -- and they talk to each other about it. We, the reader, get to think about it too. To get thematic dialogue, take it in three steps. First, as you write the novel, think about the theme that is emerging. Don't try to force one into your novel, just to see what is coming out naturally. Second, let several characters talk to each other about that theme. Go ahead and write too much -- you can always cut the extra dialogue out. And third, edit the dialogue, so that the characters explore and touch on the theme from the edge. Don't let them preach to the readers either.

Dialogue is probably one of the strongest tools in the fiction writer's hands. Think about how you're using it. Add in the mood, pacing, and theme so that your dialogue adds layers to the story. Now that's meaningful dialogue.

Write?

Current Mood: listen

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 4 February 2009

Moving Right Along

Writer's Digest, January 2006, in the Fiction Essentials column by Nancy Kress, has an article called, "Pick up the Pace." As the subhead points out, "Certain genres require a rapid-fire succession of scenes. Here's how to keep your fiction moving quickly."

Why quick pacing? "It hooks readers, creates tension, deepens the drama and speeds things along."

So what is this pace? Basically, it's the speed at which you introduce events and characters. Nancy suggests that you can think of it as the number of story events divided by the page count. Higher ratio, faster pace. So when you put your foot to the keyboard, there are more events in fewer pages.

How do you decide? Start by looking at the genre you're writing in. Thrillers, mysteries, westerns, adventure -- these are fast-paced. Keep your story moving. One of the advantages of having lots of events is that it raises lots of questions in the reader's mind, so he's going to keep reading seeking answers, trying to understand the connections of all these events and possible outcomes.

Women's fiction, character driven fiction, historical novels -- you may want to take more time to develop scenes and introduce events. And with literary fiction, you may want to go even slower. Notice the slow pace probably means a more polished style, more complex characters, something to keep the reader interested. Complex character development, detailed description, stylistic nuances -- go ahead and help your reader form a deep interest and concern.

Pace increases tension. Fast events mean characters get into trouble more quickly. Conflict is the engine driving stories. When the pace goes faster, there's more chances for conflict. And conflict also sets out and pushes tension. Characters want to get out -- and so do the readers.

A quick pace also increases tension because readers start connecting scenes, even if the characters don't. Changes in bit characters are more obvious when their appearances are back-to-back. Events that happen close together often lead readers to imagine cause-and-effect relations -- whether they are appropriate or not.

Nancy doesn't mention it, but I think there's also the roller coaster ride effect. With a fast-paced story, the reader is wondering what's going to happen next, and reacting to the repeated surprises. Sure, they could read the story more slowly, but that's not what they want.

How do you make your story keep the pace? Some suggestions:

start your story in the middle of dramatic action
keep description brief. One or two key details
combine scenes. Stack the action into one scene instead of splitting it over several.
rely on dialogue. Spoken conversation reads rapidly.
minimize backstory. Let the reader learn about characters through what they do now in story time.
keep chapter short
remove unnecessary words. "Wordiness not only kills pace; it bores readers."

So you want to keep the wheels turning, the metronome clicking, tick-tock, tick-tock, as the sweep second hand spins across the clock face!

An exercise. First, take a look at your work in progress. What would happen if you tried picking up the pace? Suppose you wanted to position it as a thriller -- how would you change the pace, the setting, the arrangement of scenes, etc.?

Second, pick a scene or situation that lends itself to the fast-paced thriller description. The automobile accident, the race in the ambulance to the emergency room, or the sudden preparation for an unexpected dinner guest after a phone call? Pick your own problem of time, and then write up the description. Make us feel the anxiety of the situation through the pacing of the story.

Okay?

Current Mood: pacing
Current Music: Don't Blink, Kenny Chesney

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 26 December 2008

Here comes Writer's Digest again! June 2005, pages 51 to 55, The Writing Clinic with G. Miki Hayden talks about a short story submission. The headline is "Cut Ruthlessly" and the subhead is "Trim off the excess -- even if it means making some characters disappear -- to further your narration." In the critique of the short story, there are number of helpful hints. Let me just pick out a few:

Find the Right Blend. The mixture of narrative description, dialogue, and action needs to be balanced. "Avoid using all dialogue, all description or all telling, but instead, employ a harmonious blend of each." Skip over a little "... writers sometimes have to surrender even the cleverest snippets to make the story cohere. No matter how witty or clever your sentence is, if it doesn't make the story stronger, it doesn't belong."
Pull It All Together. How do you put story threads, primary goals of the main characters, and wit together in a way that keeps the reader captivated? Focus on the main focus! "With the focus (the protagonist's aims) identified, the entire story can be handled with more clarity." Start the piece by showing the reader what the story is about.
Pace the Narrative. Go through your narrative and give only details necessary at each point. Make sure each part brings out only essential factors.
Cut Ruthlessly -- Even Characters. Don't add extra characters -- stick to the ones that are absolutely key. Occam's Razor -- especially worded as "don't explain beyond what's necessary" -- applies to fiction writing, too. Use it to shave off unnecessary constructs.

Use the right mixture of show, dialogue, and a dash of description. Keep the story focused on the aims of the protagonist. Provide details when they're needed. And don't over explain. Good advice, especially when rewriting.

So, write and rewrite!

Current Mood: trim

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 8 September 2008

Chapter 20: Climactic Scenes

It must be time for another thrilling chapter from Make a Scene by Jordan Rosenfeld. Are you ready?

"The climax is the high point of all the action and drama in your narrative -- where the events that began with the significant situation come to a roiling, intense head." The events in the climax are the hammer for character change, and set up the ending of the story. The climactic scene is the most intense, dramatic, powerful scene. Normally there is only one. And once the climax is over, there shouldn't be much left to tie up and finish. This is really where the whole story comes together.

Successful climactic scenes include:

opposing forces collide. The protagonist and antagonist meet and clash.
the climactic event directly related to the significant situation
a central conflict. The protagonist confronts something or someone, and changes or is changed
the stakes should be as high as possible -- life and death, relationships destroyed, kingdoms won or lost
a swift pace, but some room for emotional content

The climax is a point of no return. There's no turning back, the characters and the plot are changed permanently by what happens in the climactic struggle.

Setting up the climax. A climactic scene usually doesn't surprise the reader. It's often a relief, because finally the growing tension and suspense, the emotional drama, all of the threads are going to feed into the collision. Consequences, stress, conflicts -- this is where they are all headed, and readers expect that a climactic scene will tie things up.

So the climactic scene needs to open showing the reader that action and drama are about to unfold. Normally the scene before ends with suspense, tension, and a foreshadowing of conflict about to break out.

The climactic event. Openings of climactic scenes as usually get quickly to the action. Climactic scenes build quickly and steadily, like action scenes. Don't get stuck in exposition -- make the climactic scene march right along, with specific actions, dialogue, setting details that build atmosphere, and emotional content.

"The goal of the `event is to bring significant situation and the resulting plot consequences to a head so that there's some kind of transformation in your protagonist's life or struggle. The climax is the moment where the protagonist is tested, tried, and permanently altered by whatever happens."

Post climactic event. When you finish the climactic scene, there's not much left to do. Don't add new plot information or create suspense. You may need to sort through what happened and show how the protagonist has changed, but you want to do this quickly.

Rosenfeld's checklist for climactic scenes:

Does your climactic scene use as many elements as possible to build a well-rounded, complex event: action, dialogue, setting details, emotional content, dramatic tension?
Is there one climactic scene for each protagonist? the fewer the better.
Is the climax event directly related to the significant situation?
Does the climax change your protagonist permanently in some way? Is it a point of no return?
Are the stakes high in the climax?
Is the climactic scene at the high point of the action and drama? Are the scenes that follow slower, more reflective, and less action?

That's what Rosenfeld has to say about the climactic scene. So this is the one scene in the plot that all the threads are aimed at, where the protagonist faces the real test, problem, conflict -- and either makes or breaks?

We're getting close to the end of the list of scenes. But in the meantime, consider taking a novel that you really enjoyed, and analyzing the climactic scene. How was it set up? Sometimes the foreshadowing for a climactic scene seems to thread all the way through the novel, with various bits and pieces pointing towards the inevitable meeting. But check the scene just before, and look at what was done to hint that here it comes! And then take the scene itself apart. How much lead in does it have, and what happens to the pace in the scene? Think of the old mysteries -- when the guy in the big chair starts laying out the pieces, he rattles and thumps and makes everyone jump, but it goes pretty darn fast. And there are twists and turns as he explains that while everyone thought the butler did it, in reality -- the maid did it, wearing the butler's shoes! And then look at where the climax sits in the whole story, and what comes afterwards.

Then consider the climax for your story. Is it really a peak for the story? How can you make sure that the reader knows it is coming, how do you push them into it and drag them remorselessly through it, and how do you avoid spending too much time afterwards tying up all those odds and ends?

'saright? Write!

"The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand." Lewis Thomas

Current Mood: pinhead

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The Place For My Writers Notes

Entries tagged with pace

TECH: Crafting Scenes (3)

TECH: A Switch in Time (moldy oldie) (650 words)

TECH: The Six Basics of Writing Humorously (moldy oldie) (1200 words!)

TECH: Keeping Them in Suspense (moldy oldie)

TECH: Creating Action Scenes That Move (Moldy Oldie Time!)

TECH: what did you say?

TECH: And don't talk back

TECH: Quick Trot?

TECH: Trim To the Bone?

TECH: Make A Scene #20: Climactic Scenes

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