Writing Better Part 15

STORY ELEMENT PROPORTIONS

More important scenes should be longer than less important scenes.

Scenes that build tension should increase in importance - and length - as the story progresses, but don’t forget to also increase intensity.

The climax should be long enough to balance the scenes leading up to it.

Don’t let minor characters take over the story by describing them in too much detail. Also, describe objects only if they have a plot function. (For instance, only tell your readers, "He sat in the green wingback chair" if the green wingback chair is somehow integral to the plot. If not, just say, "He sat down.")

 

STOP! LOOK! THINK AGAIN!

01) Stop - after 3 or 4 paragraphs, to catch your thought processes before they’ve hardened too much to be flexible;

02) Look - in specific detail at what you’ve decided about four crucial areas:

a) Point-of-view character;

b) Person - 1^st or 3^rd;

c) Distance (with 3^rd person) - close, middle or far:

i) Close - sees thoughts as they develop;

ii) Middle - combination of thoughts and actions;

iii) Far - thoughts must be deduced from actions.

d) Tone - comic, heroic, factual, lyrical, deadpan, tragic, farcical, etc. (Once readers have a sense of the story’s tone, they will expect the rest of the tale to comply with that tone.)

03) Think again - about the choices you’ve made in that particular scene.

 

FICTIONAL TONE

Tone is the overall mood of a piece of writing, derived from word choice, distance, detail selection and authorial attitude toward the characters. It can also be thought of as the author’s view of his material. Three tips on tone:

01) Establish it early;

02) Keep it consistent;

03) Don’t let it overwhelm the story.

ONE, TWO, THREE… PUSH!

You need to push your prose in order to attain certain kinds of extravagant tones for your fiction. Visual details greatly enhance prose by allowing readers to "see" the story unfolding. Rather than writing, "A funny-looking baby," push the description - "A bald baby with an enormous mouth."

This technique works especially well with comedy, and for this reason you must avoid pushing too hard with serious fiction, lest your prose sound pompous. In serious fiction, details are pushed to imply truths which go beyond the specific events of the book. It works best in serious fiction where the author wants a resonant, sweeping tone. In short:

01) Start with a small exaggeration, then push the details beyond the literal. In humorous fiction, don’t be afraid to go over the top - as long as it’s descriptive, it will work;

02) In serious fiction, look for details which, when exaggerated, could make the link between the story’s specifics and universal themes.

SUSPENSE

There are three "sizes of" suspense, which should be presented in waves, like a roller coaster:

01) Small - a mild tingling of curiosity;

02) Medium - turns up the heat, either by adding mortal danger or by somehow getting the reader to identify personally with the lead character’s troubles;

03) Large - in which the author gets the reader questioning the motives of the lead character.

The above is especially true of mysteries, but can also be applied to other genres.