In Late, Out Early

by Deren Hansen

Heidi M. Thomas said, in a post on pacing in writing at the blog The Blood-red Pencil:

"Most writing gurus these days advise to “arrive late and leave early.” By this, they mean, start in the middle of the action or with an element of suspense that will help prompt the reader to keep reading."

Heidi is right that stories should (and readers expect to) skip the boring bits. Why slog through the dull set-up and waiting when you can jump in right at the point where things get interesting. By the same token, why hang around after the interesting bits when you can jump away to the next interesting thing. And what prompts the reader to keep reading is that they come to trust that you won't bore them with dull stuff.

But in-late/out-early is more than simply a way to keep your reader hooked. Once you develop a masterful sense of just how long a scene needs to be, in-late/out-early evolves from a mere technique into a tool for directing reader's attention and encouraging their engagement by inviting them to fill in the blanks.

Directing Focus

Like their visual counter parts, scene breaks and "screen" (or page) time tell the reader where to focus their attention. In a long scene, where several characters come and go and other things transpire in the background, readers can pay attention to many things so no one thing will have their full attention. In a short scene, they can only pay attention to what you give them.

For example, let's say you have a scene whose purpose is to show the reader that the main character notices another character acting strangely. If you show the main character strolling through the hall at school, greeting friends and chatting about the prom, until the boy she's had her eye on runs into them, nearly knocking her over while muttering something about the penguin revolution, and then the character and her friends spend a few more pages talking about what just happened, the reader may miss the key revelation about the penguin revolution. If, on the other hand, you jump into the scene moments before the collision and then jump out right after the first, "What was that?" comment, there's no danger of distracting the reader with the other people or the pending prom.

Fill in the Blanks

However, the most subtle use of in-late/out-early--at a level that approaches zen mastery--is to leave as much unsaid as possible. On several occasions, I've heard Howard Tayler say, "The monster you imagine when I say something goes bump in the dark is far scarier than anything I could describe."

By showing only the most critical part of the scene, we allow the readers to fill in the blanks by imagining what happened before and after the scene. In so doing, readers create a far richer experience for themselves than you as the author could by describing it all for them.

Think about it.


Deren blogs at The Laws of Making.

Tracking with a Timeline

By Julie Daines

Keeping track of timing when writing a novel can be tricky. Using a timeline can help you remember what happened when, and other details that add continuity to writing.

A typical timeline for me consists of the following:

The time of day events occur, including the specific date, day of the week, and the duration of those events or scenes. Even though most of that detail never makes it into the story, I refer to it frequently to make sure I’m not stuffing too much into one day while leaving other days mostly empty. I check the timeline to make sure scenes are occurring in a natural way. It helps when my characters refer to events that have happened in the past, I can easily remember when they occurred. Keeping a timeline helps ground the story in real time and draw the reader in.

The weather. I keep track of the weather so when I’m writing about events that occur at the end of the day, I maintain continuity in the weather.

What the characters are wearing. Again, this is usually a detail that doesn’t make it into the book, but just in case I want to refer to it, I can easily remember. This includes what items they have with them, if they are traveling or something.

Sometimes I indicate on my timeline emotions or paradigm shifts that my main characters have, just to see if the timing feels natural. It also helps when revising a scene to look at the timeline and remember whether this scene is before or after a certain emotional moment.

I find the timeline very useful in writing, but it comes in handy especially during the revising process. It saves me a lot of time when I need to remember what happened when. Keeping track of scenes like this also helps me notice if I have repetitive scenes or if the cycle of events is becoming formulaic.

I know this is basic stuff—writing 101. But if you don’t do this, give it a try. It’s makes a difference. 

Scene It:

By: Julie Daines

Hopefully, most of you are in the thick of NaNoWriMo!  This is my first NaNo, and I’m finding it a unique and challenging experience. 

Contrary to everyone’s good advice, I set off on this great adventure without a road map.  I just sat down on November first and started typing.  Not a good idea.  With so much emphasis on word count, I’m finding it easy to let other areas of the writing craft slip. 

So here’s a little reminder to myself, and anyone else wandering aimlessly through their plot, or lack thereof. 

The Basics of Writing Scenes:  Scenes are the story within the story, where the actions and emotions that forward the plot take place.  To create great scenes, follow three simple steps:

1- Open each scene with a hook, something to grab the reader’s attention and peak their interest in the events waiting to unfold.

2- Create conflict.  As we all know, it’s conflict that drives the story, whether emotional turmoil or impending peril.  As I’m working on my NaNo project, I’m finding it convenient to build my word count by writing easy scenes where not a lot happens, but my characters have interesting conversations about food, love and life.  Yeah, I’m setting myself up for a lot or revising.  So remember: conflict, conflict, conflict.

3- End each scene with a hook to keep the reader wanting more.  As each scene concludes, drop a hint of something even more intense lurking just around the corner—or in our case, on the next page.

Good luck to you all in your quest for the 50,000.  Stay tuned in December for tips on how to clean up your mess.