How To Write That Scene: Professional Techniques For Fiction Authors (Writer's Craft)

by Rayne Hall

she’s achieved something else

before. Make it clear who is saying what. Avoid info-dumping dialogue where speakers explain to one another things they already know. Setting Opening with the setting allows you to set the mood for the scene and the whole book — tense, creepy, humorous. It also conveys the scene’s location, the season and the time of the day, as well as the Point-of-View character’s state of mind. Avoid lengthy setting descriptions without character or action. Put the character into the setting, let him or her move in or interact with it. If you’re writing deep Point-of-View, show the setting from the PoV character’s perspective. Use several senses — not just vision, but sound and smell, and perhaps touch and temperature. Action This opening is exciting, and it promises the readers that they’re in for a thrilling ride. The characters chase a fugitive, hoist a sail, rehearse a show, escape from prison, build a wall, wrestle a villain, forge a sword or do something else relevant to the plot. To tap into this excitement, the readers need to know why the character is fighting, working, chasing, fleeing, otherwise they have no emotional investment. If several characters are involved, focus on just two of them,

The novelist sits at her computer, thinking

Chapter 13 OUTDOOR