Happy Holidays, Harvey. Your dangling participle/participant angle was very helpful this week. And thanks so much for your very kind words about my newsletter! Your Sunday postings are like a warm hug each week.
I certainly have the problem that there is much more going on in my head than makes it onto the paper/pixels. But, I also have the problem of telling all the background that I know about upfront, instead of letting the characters introduce it at the right time....
Yep. ALWAYS listen to the characters. I'm not saying "put" something in. I'm only saying slow down (usually during cycling) so the characters will catch anything you omitted as you and they were racing through the story.
Oh! I don't know if you've already written about this, if so please direct me to the archive area, but this falls under a couple of subjects, but also under neither, unless I'm not understanding it correctly.
Pacing and Hooks are the subjects it falls under, but...
So, "everyone" says that you need to have an explosive beginning, to hook the reader, that you need to start in media res, or at least get there within a sentence or at worst paragraph. That it needs fast pacing to draw the reader in and get their hearts racing to turn the page.
But, often, (not always), My stories start with a much slower pace, drawing a picture of life around the character before all the crazy happens. Now, I'm not writing thrillers or horror, though I write stuff with action adventure in there, even if fantasy/sci-fi.
So, the slow beginning (might take a page or two to get to the explosion), is that really a detriment to the reader? I know in this sound-bite world that it is said that people have no patience anymore. What are your thoughts on this? Slower, slice of life beginnings?
Nope. As I've written elsewhere (probably in WBF) go ahead and start in media res.. Then ask yourself what the character(s) was doing just before that. That's often a better beginning.
Happy Holidays, Harvey. Your dangling participle/participant angle was very helpful this week. And thanks so much for your very kind words about my newsletter! Your Sunday postings are like a warm hug each week.
Thanks, Marty, and Happy Hanukkah.
Yes, Happy Hanukkah!
I certainly have the problem that there is much more going on in my head than makes it onto the paper/pixels. But, I also have the problem of telling all the background that I know about upfront, instead of letting the characters introduce it at the right time....
Yep. ALWAYS listen to the characters. I'm not saying "put" something in. I'm only saying slow down (usually during cycling) so the characters will catch anything you omitted as you and they were racing through the story.
Oh! I don't know if you've already written about this, if so please direct me to the archive area, but this falls under a couple of subjects, but also under neither, unless I'm not understanding it correctly.
Pacing and Hooks are the subjects it falls under, but...
So, "everyone" says that you need to have an explosive beginning, to hook the reader, that you need to start in media res, or at least get there within a sentence or at worst paragraph. That it needs fast pacing to draw the reader in and get their hearts racing to turn the page.
But, often, (not always), My stories start with a much slower pace, drawing a picture of life around the character before all the crazy happens. Now, I'm not writing thrillers or horror, though I write stuff with action adventure in there, even if fantasy/sci-fi.
So, the slow beginning (might take a page or two to get to the explosion), is that really a detriment to the reader? I know in this sound-bite world that it is said that people have no patience anymore. What are your thoughts on this? Slower, slice of life beginnings?
Nope. As I've written elsewhere (probably in WBF) go ahead and start in media res.. Then ask yourself what the character(s) was doing just before that. That's often a better beginning.