The last letter of our alphabet, I
wanted Z to stand for something important.
When writing a story, it’s a challenge to move back and
forth between the small details and the overall plot. It reminds me of those satellite maps, where
you “zoom in” to see a city, and then “zoom out” to see the entire parameter of where
you’re going. It's like that in writing; one minute you’re in the character’s
private world, the next you’re moving the entire narrative along, the lens of
the telescope pulled back.
It's a tough balance defining the character in tempo with the unfolding events.
 |
| Talk about “Seeing the forest for the trees.” |
Too much “step up close—leap back” and you could leave a
reader with vertigo. While too much of either extreme may give your story a
plodding tread. I have yet to find any exact
guidelines to managing this issue other than, “If the scene sounds drawn out,
it most likely is.”
It’s
advised that you read a scene aloud when drafting, then wait a few days before
going over it again. This helps to prevent you from lolling in the distanced perspective or the personal character mindset for too long. This allows you to look at the section of writing
with a fresh perspective.
It’s
also good to let your critique partner (or group) review it. They’re sure to give you an unbiased opinion
about the pacing and character development.
Zoom in and out only as needed and you can’t go wrong.
This is it?
Seriously? It’s Z end?
I’d like to thank everyone for checking out CN. I’ve had such a great time talking craft with you, and the experience has taught me so much!
Keep reading and writing!
And
I’m here, so please check back for more of the NARRATIVE. ;0)
Thank you for this post. We did nearly the same idea! I talked about zoom-shots in film, and related them to writing -- the same general idea as yours. Great minds, and all that...
ReplyDeleteAfter a breather to let the A to Z month soak in, I think I'll read all your posts from beginning to end. Good stuff!
Yay! Z is a hard one, and not just because it's a tough letter to find words for. Great one!
ReplyDeleteReading your stuff out loud as part of the proofing process is really smart, I find myself doing that with the stuff I write for my day job all the time. I try to do that with my personal projects as well.
ReplyDeleteSome Dark Romantic