By:
Linda Clare
In
the opening of many novels, we see a character alone on stage, riding a train,
plane, car, or donkey. Many times this character is gazing out a window
(unless, of course, she’s riding the donkey), thinking. Some call this “driving
to the story.”
Many
times this type of “sittin ’ and thinkin ” scene is so loaded with backstory that
readers don’t know when the real story begins—or worse, they don’t care. Let’s
look at some ways to fix this kind of Writing that comes across as “nothin ’
happenin ’.”
The
Wilson Principle
To
hook your readers and get the story going quickly, your POV character needs
someone to interact with. If you write only her thoughts, she has no one who
will disagree with her. There is no variety or stimulating action. Just the
character sitting, thinking. While an occasional scene opening this way can
have a place in a novel, writers risk losing readers’ interest by taking this
approach.
In
the movie Castaway, Tom Hanks finds himself marooned on a desert
island. He has no one to talk to, no one to interact with. That’s why he
invents Wilson, the volleyball. He draws a face on this ball and gives him some
seaweed hair. Voila! Tom Hanks’s character has a sidekick.
In
the film, Wilson becomes someone for Hanks to confide in, get angry at, and set
off a range of emotions. In your novel, getting at least one more character on
stage with your POV character gives this same advantage. Readers are enlivened
through the possibilities of dialog, body language, and physical action. You
can sprinkle a touch of backstory here, but you no longer must rely so heavily
on character memories, which, especially in chapter 1, have little significance
to readers.
When
you write a scene, note the number of other characters on stage. If your main
character is alone, she’ll either have to talk to herself out loud or else play
out the purpose of the scene through her thoughts. People are the usual choice
to join your character, but pets or even a personified volleyball can provide a
way to include dialog and action in your scene. Use the Wilson Principle to
keep your audience engaged.
Create
a Red Wine Disaster
.
. .
Read the full
article HERE!
~*~
If
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- On Life, Literature, and Being in the “Between Place” | Creative Writing with the Crimson League http://ow.ly/OppyX
- Why
your novel needs professional editing –
BookBaby blog http://ow.ly/OppEe
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