tension and pacing

[isiscolo]

z_rayne had an thought-provoking post last week about elements that make a story unreadable or difficult to read for her, and quite an interesting discussion sprung up in the comments. I weighed in with some of my own factors that make my fingers move toward the back button. But there's one thing that can't be expressed in the same type of black-or-white

Comments

[isiscolo]

Thanks! I think part of the reason I'm sensitive to pacing is that I have a journalism background. Learning how to structure a nonfiction article carries over into structuring fiction as well.

[isiscolo]

Heh. I know my personal problem is under-writing. Not so much tell-not-show, because I'm sensitive to that and I think am pretty good at the showing-not-telling, but I know my stories tend to be rather spare and architectural. My betas kick me to put more description and introspection in there.

[isiscolo]

Yay you for signing up for the challenge!

The thing about good writing is that it raises these questions subtly, I think. I mean, yeah, in the dS story I mention Fraser does explicitly ask a question that the reader nods her head with and thinks, "yeah, why did he do that?", but the questions are usually the result of the reader's interaction with the story. For example, in my latest story, the first scene raises the question, "is Callum a serial killer?!?!" without explicitly asking it - or even having Hugh explicitly wonder it. He just starts speculating and worrying, and the reader wants to keep going to find the answer

[agnes_bean]

Here via meta_fandom

But the story can't do nothing but raise questions until the bang-up resolution solves everything, because that's unsatisfying at best and confusing at worst; the trick is to space out your questions and answers, to raise new questions as you answer earlier ones, so that the reader is carried along on the crest of the wave.
Could someone PLEASE explain this to the writers of Lost and Alias?

Anyway, I agree. Great post, very interesting.

[isiscolo]

Heh. I haven't seen these shows, but I sympathize - I know that frequently it seems as though movies focus on creating tension without any intermediate resolutions.

[rexluscus]

Yes, yes, you are totally right! This makes me think back to a recent-ish post by resonant8 about the placement of sex scenes in stories - how they become boring if all conflict has been resolved beforehand. A sex scene is immeasurably hotter if it's placed at the top of one of those little saw teeth - the climax of a smaller part of the story's arc but also the breeding ground for a new piece of the arc. There's nothing better than a plotty sex scene. :)

Hm, apparently my brain is incapable of apprehending anything outside the context of sex. Anyway - one of the most disappointing things in a story is when a really juicy conflict has been set up - and then it's resolved prematurely and easily. When you have all the ingredients for good drama, and then suddenly everything just...works out. I also have a special loathing for fics that exist only to show us the characters leading happy lives in a wish-fulfillment kind of way, with maybe a little artificial conflict thrown in for window dressing.

[isiscolo]

Wow, your icon is scary.

And I remember that post! (See, things that have to do with sex stick in my mind, too!) She's totally right - and actually, that goes along with minisinoo's post taking off from this (which I should ETA): sex scenes (like all scenes) should have a purpose in the overall plot. That gives the sex an urgency that is just delicious.

The premature resolution problem is exasperating, because you can see the elements of a good story in there. I think that some writers have a hard time putting their characters through fire, perhaps. They just want to get to (what they see as) the "good part" - but the good part for me is getting there!

I also have a special loathing for fics that exist only to show us the characters leading happy lives in a wish-fulfillment kind of way, with maybe a little artificial conflict thrown in for window dressing.This is why most PWP doesn't work for me. La la la they have a happy established relationship and then they have sex la la la is terribly boring to me. I need to have a story

[rexluscus]

Oh yes, I forgot - that's an excellent point you made, too, about your tastes changing the longer you're in fandom. At first, it's enough that there's a buildup to sex - but eventually, that conflict alone becomes too familiar and you need something else. I've gotten so jaded about Snape/Harry stories where Harry comes back to Hogwarts as a teacher and slowly seduces Snape - there are many classics that use that formula, and it's a shame that I can't really enjoy them anymore, but...it just ain't enough! I know how it ends already.

And you're totally right about writers not wanting their characters to suffer too much. The rule for drama should always be "what's the worst thing that could possibly happen at this juncture?" and then make that happen! (Well, within reason.) It's maddening when characters simply glide through the story without getting a (metaphorical or otherwise) scratch on them.

And heheh re: icon - yeah, I guess it's a bit creepy. *eg*

[isiscolo]

I talk about this a little in my story notes just a few days back for my latest story "Ladykiller" - I expect it's not a story you want to read, but the notes might interest you, because I talk about how I almost let the characters off easy, but decided that it would be untrue to the story I was telling.

[anamirza]

I definitely noticed as my time in fandom went on, that I moved from reading stories as long as they weren't actively bad, to only reading stories that were good. ("Bad", of course, being one short word to describe a long list of potential sins against literature, and "good" shorthand for "worth missing sleep to read".)

[isiscolo]

Oh, I do the same, and I think a lot of people do (in fact I did a poll on this a while back, about people becoming more selective within the life cycle of their fandom involvement). Of course "bad" and "good" are relative to the individual reader.

But as a reccer I feel a bit guilty because stories I recced at the beginning of my fandom love are ones I wouldn't rec later in the cycle, and therefore the writers of less-than-fantastic stories that are written later have less of a chance to be recced.

[anamirza]

But as a reccer I feel a bit guilty because stories I recced at the beginning of my fandom love are ones I wouldn't rec later in the cycle

But that's OK, because the people reading your recs at the beginning were probably going through their fandom crush phase too, whereas (whoops, sorry!) now they've been in the fandom a while, they're pickier.

[isiscolo]

Hee! I don't discriminate against whereases here!

And actually, I don't know if your comment is quite valid, because I think there are some people who were multifandom who read my e.g. Harry Potter recs and were already in due South when I started reccing it. But to some extent I think you're right.