Let me ask you a question. What, in real life, is ever linear? Not a whole lot. Same should be with your stories. Not that you have to have your character run freaking everywhere to find a new outfit, but all outline-worthy problems should have a degree of non-linearity to them. The bigger the problem, the more work it should take to solve it. Bonus points if you can cause each side trip to relate to another problem in the story.
A prime example of this is the thread of the love plot in, say, a fantasy epic. The love story most certainly is not brought up in every scene. Most, maybe, but not all. Each time it's brought up, something is solved and more complications are brought up... Prince Charming finds her tower, but she's not at home right now. Unfortunately, the dragon is. Get the idea?
This all stems from the magical word: Conflict. As an author, you are the living embodiment of Murphy's Law to your characters. The more complicated you make their problems--assuming you can weave it all to a meaningful conclusion--the better story you're going to have. Another example...
If you have an epic battle, please don't let it get resolved in one chapter, especially if it's the final battle. Take your time with that stuff. Full on medieval offenses do not finish in one paragraph. It takes a lot longer than that to muster 500 infantry into a charge against a castle wall, especially when you take the archers and boiling oil into account.
I used to have this problem myself. Battles are fun to write, but being the minimalist that I am, they would often get over far too fast. Like I said, non-linearity will help you here. Cause complications for every tactic. If your hero is trying to scale the castle wall to take out the general, then have him run into at least a couple guards, and have his scaling equipment be a little sketch. And certainly don't make every attack successful. A battle isn't a straight win or a straight loss. It ebbs and flows.
Keep these things in mind as you are plotting. Your story will benefit greatly.
Hello, Matt! I make sure there is conflict, or some sort of high tension, in each scene. It's a good reminder to keep things from getting boring for the reader. Great post and thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week and happy A to Z!!
Definitely! I would say, however, that there is a place for slower scenes, especially if everything is high stakes action the entire way. Wouldn't want your reader to be unable to breath the entire time.
ReplyDeleteHappy A-Z to you, too!