Yes, But – No, And
Thursday September 13, 2012 | By Hieronymus Hawkes | Uncategorized | Leave Comments
Conversely, if you go the other way you can move the story along but “up the stakes.” Are they going to make it across the bridge in this scene? No, and in fact there is a group of ruffians coming up behind them now and they need to come up with a new plan. You get the idea here.
Every scene should be moving the story along. It’s is fine to have a few down moments to allow the reader to catch their breath, for example, the group is successful at making it across the bridge and make camp for the night, but they see smoke on the horizon signaling that the group that is chasing them will be here by morning, so they will need to moving before too long. It will give you some “campfire time” to do some reflection and perhaps bring in some back story or maybe some foreshadowing for the coming scenes.
This is something I am toying with in the new thing I’m doing called outlining. It is actually helpful in laying out the plan and moving from one chapter to the next, actually ahead of time. That’s not to say this locks me in to anything. I reserve the right to change the story as it comes to me, and to change the outline again as a result, but it is a very useful tool in our bag of tricks.
Clear Ether!
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