First up, thanks to whomever decided this blog was worthy of a spot on the Top 50 Creative Writing Blogs. I got a cool badge and everything! A lot of my posts are about writing techniques and questions I wished I’d had easy answers for when I started down the writing road. I try to be focused and brief. As I’ve redecorated my blog’s stage, I’ve thought about how often I refer to theatrical stages in giving writing advice. Readers imagine a novel at least in part as a play or movie unfolding before them. Thinking of your scenes as plays or movies could help you remember that sensory integration is crucial to effective scene writing.
Writing Tip for Today: The major difference (and why I prefer reading) between books and plays is that in a novel you get to venture inside the character’s thoughts/feelings. But beware trapping your reader on the inside of a character’s head. Remember, the stage is almost empty and not much happens in real time as you allow your character to “reflect” on anything. I think the Rule of Three is a good one for these trips into the character’s psyche. If you go on more than 3 sentences, paragraphs, pages, depending on the work, let the reader come up for air with some real time action. Using a Concrete Sensory Detail to get the reader in and out of a flashback helps the reader figure out why this character is doing all the musing.
Try This!
Write a scene which begins in real time, veers off into a flashback or “reflection” and back to the real time scene. Try not to use the trite phrase, “Her/my mind reeled back.” Instead, use CSD to go into and back out of the flashback.