I picked up a great book on the craft of writing this week. Between the Lines by Jessica Page Morrell takes the writer through the more subtle aspects of fiction writing sometimes overshadowed by the heavy-weight topics of character and plot. Included in this 300 page Writer's Digest publication are topics ranging from epiphanies and foreshadowing to flashbacks and transitions.
While a cliffhanger is one kind of page-turning device most writers are familiar with, Morrell also delves into the broader category of what she calls "thrusters." These structural devices "push the story ahead, move the action forward, and raise questions or cause curiosity about unanswered issues or things to come." While cliffhangers interrupt the action, forcing the reader to forage ahead for a sense of completion, other thrusters can be more subtle.
Opening lines, if engaging as they should be to attract the reader's attention, can be thrusters. If action doesn't thunder on the page immediately, the writer can still hint at the promise of action to come and provide setting, exposition or something else to encourage the reader to continue. Other thrusters include scene breaks to change point of view so the reader will worry about the viewpoint character, jumping from place to place or mood to mood to keep the reader's curiosity actively engaged, chases, danger, emotional bombshells, surprises, flashbacks and interruptions. All of these tricks and more serve to deny the reader something in exchange for their unwavering interest in the story.
One last hint: Always start scenes with a provocative statement, moment or tease. View each new chapter and scene with the same critical eye you gave page one.
While a cliffhanger is one kind of page-turning device most writers are familiar with, Morrell also delves into the broader category of what she calls "thrusters." These structural devices "push the story ahead, move the action forward, and raise questions or cause curiosity about unanswered issues or things to come." While cliffhangers interrupt the action, forcing the reader to forage ahead for a sense of completion, other thrusters can be more subtle.
Opening lines, if engaging as they should be to attract the reader's attention, can be thrusters. If action doesn't thunder on the page immediately, the writer can still hint at the promise of action to come and provide setting, exposition or something else to encourage the reader to continue. Other thrusters include scene breaks to change point of view so the reader will worry about the viewpoint character, jumping from place to place or mood to mood to keep the reader's curiosity actively engaged, chases, danger, emotional bombshells, surprises, flashbacks and interruptions. All of these tricks and more serve to deny the reader something in exchange for their unwavering interest in the story.
One last hint: Always start scenes with a provocative statement, moment or tease. View each new chapter and scene with the same critical eye you gave page one.
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