It’s not enough to have something dramatic happen in a story. The
reason why it happens is also important.
In terms of impact on a reader, there’s a big difference between a
character getting upset about losing their house to the bank and getting upset
because their favourite tv show got cancelled.
What happens keeps the reader interested in the short term. Why it
happens is what keeps them interested over the course of an entire novel.
For the big things, the major plot points, the premise, the reasons
why it’s happening will be something the writer is probably already aware of
and working on to make sure its importance is clear.
The guy doesn’t want the girl to leave because he loves her, the
secret agent wants to find the bomb before it kills everyone, the cop wants to
catch the serial killer because yada yada.
Obviously, being aware you need a reason is only part of it. You still
have to come up with decent ideas and execute them well, but as long as you
know where to make those reasons clear and interesting, you’ll have as good a
chance of making it work as is possible.
However, the big moments aren’t the only moments in a story.
Characters have to go about doing stuff, getting to places, interacting with
each other. Those scenes also require characters to have reasons for doing what
they’re doing.
Since those moments aren’t of such great consequence, it can be easy
to let them slide. Make them as short and quick as possible and get them out of
the way. You need a guy to go to the store because once he gets there he finds
the place overrun with Martians and the story gets going. So he tells his wife
he’s going to get some milk and off he goes.
And that’s perfectly plausible. It won’t have readers throwing the
book down in disgust, they’ll keep reading, probably, as long as things don’t
get too pedestrian. But not turning them off isn’t really where you want to aim
for. The question is, will it keep them engrossed and turning the pages?
Because flat, generic, emotionally bland scenes don’t tend to hold the
attention. And just because we haven’t got to the bit with the aliens yet,
doesn’t mean it’s okay to coast.
If, for example, the wife wants him to get five things from the store
and tells him to write them down so he won’t forget, and he gets pissed off
because she has no faith in him and he refuses to write a list but she texts
him the list, so he takes a photo of a dog taking a dump in the street and
sends it to her... well, maybe you don’t have to go quite that far. My point is
you can create tension and emotion and reveal character and have a dynamic
already in place using the smallest of scenes.
That way, when he does get to the Martians in the 7-11, he’s not going
to arrive like he’s idling in neutral, and the reader isn’t still waiting for
the story to start.
In real life, people do things for the same reasons as everyone else.
If I say I’m eating a sandwich you won’t require an explanation, you’ll just
assume I’m hungry and eating is what you do when you’re hungry. As a writer,
though, there is room in the seemingly ordinary to stimulate the reader’s interest.
If a man says he’s going to the bank, there’s no reason why the bank
scene can’t be interesting and engaging.
If man says he’s going to the tanning salon, there’s no reason why
that won’t be an entertaining scene.
But if a man says he’s going to the bank, but he drives past the bank
and pulls up outside a tanning salon, you’ve already got the reader’s interest
before the scene has started.
You can get away with giving characters the usual, familiar reasons for doing things, but the potential for the unexpected or unfamiliar to engage a reader often goes unexploited.
If you look at any moment in a story and the reason why the person is
doing what they’re doing, and then just ask yourself if the reason could be
something more interesting, or if the character’s mood could be better shown, chances
are you’ll be able to engage the reader and start building momentum so that
you’re already up and running by the time you get to the take off point.
If you found this post useful, please give it a retweet. Cheers.
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This post first appeared March 2013. Holidays are over. Next week, new post!
6 comments:
Apply the question 'what if?'
And send me an email, Moody! Would like to have you do a guest post at the IWSG.
Drama is, after all, the thing that keeps people coming back to reality television is it not? I think an author can learn a thing or two from an episode of Desperate Housewives and inject some drama into a story to make it resonate with readers. Very good post, Moody! I agree wholeheartedly.
Very nice reminders of what makes scenes work while building the overall plot's tension. I did find this useful, and I am retweeting it. Have a great day.
It's so critical, these days especially, to grab a reader's attention fast and hold on tight. My new reading practice is to give a book ten pages to offer promise and twenty-five to set the hook.Life is too short and time is too valuable to waste on being bored. .... Oh, dear, I'm beginning to sound like I'm part of the limited attention span generation.
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