Structuring Your Novel Box Set: How to Write Solid Stories That Sell (Helping Writers Become Authors) by K.M. Weiland

Author:K.M. Weiland [Weiland, K.M.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Writing How-To
Publisher: PenForASword Publishing
Published: 2016-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

Keeping Slow Scenes Moving

Not every scene can be set at a fever pitch of excitement. Just like our own lives, the lives of our characters need to balance the tense, dangerous, exciting moments with the occasional trip to the grocery store. But how do we make sure readers don’t find our necessary low-key scenes so low-key they start yawning and flipping pages to get back to the “good stuff”?

We can start by borrowing a page from Patrick Rothfuss’s fantasy The Name of the Wind. This novel is a lengthy, lyrical, detailed account of the first fifteen years of its narrator’s life. The character encounters all sorts of interesting and dangerous adventures, which are interspersed with slower, information-heavy scenes. Rothfuss does an admirable job of using tension and foreboding to keep readers glued to the page during even the slowest of scenes. For example, an early scene features the hero visiting a tavern with the goal of listening to a famed storyteller. The scene’s conflict is very low-key, so Rothfuss cleverly opens by telling readers that this particular tavern is the haunt of the narrator’s enemy, who’s out to kill him. Instantly, readers are invested in this seemingly mundane scene. Knowing the protagonist is risking his life to achieve his goal, we chew our fingernails all the way through.

Whenever you have the need to write a low-key scene, make sure readers understand that more is at play than just what they see on the surface. If you can help readers understand that this quiet scene is only a lull before the storm, their sense of foreboding will ratchet tension into even the gentlest of scenes.

Another trick to keep in mind is the necessity of motion. A character who is just standing still—especially if he’s standing still just thinking—isn’t doing much to move the plot forward. Not only does he present a flat visual landscape, he also lacks any actions that can be used to break up large chunks of narrative and dialogue.

A character who’s moving, even if he’s just walking across the street, will give readers the sense that the story is moving forward along with him. His motion imparts progression and urgency vital for advancing the story.

Let’s say your latest scene features all kinds of exciting conflict, including a long-awaited confrontation between the protagonist and the antagonist. You get to introduce a fabulous new setting, play with some sizzling dialogue, and ramp up the action. Sounds like the perfect scene, right?

Sounds like, but, as it turns out, your opening paragraphs are falling flatter than a pancake. Even you are bored, all because the scene is lacking something vital: a sense of energy and dynamism. A sense of motion.

I ran into this problem while working on a historical novel. One of its important scenes opens at a train station in Nairobi. My protagonist is standing on the end of the platform, frozen, as he sees the antagonist approaching the ticket counter. All sorts of emotions are running through his brain. The

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