I'm back. After four days of orange juice shots and tequila chasers, my cold-flu-thingy has almost gone. I can now speak coherently and make almost decent decisions. Thank you to all who left lovely comments hoping I'd get better. I kept my phone close and would pry one eye open to see check on you guys and gals.
I'm a person that is always in motion. If my body is still then my mind is racing. I can't stop it. It's just the way I am. When your body is sick and it affects your mind though you do calm down and sit still. In the few moments I wasn't convinced I was going to die, I tried to think of something to blog about. It was actually pretty easy. Being in the moment.
We should live life in the moment. Not worrying about tomorrow or yesterday but the now.
We need to do this with our books too. When you write the scene, BE IN the scene. Let it mature and fill the pages to busting. Stand in your scene and look around. See all the cracks in the concrete. Notice the yellow flowers in the shop keeper's hat. Do that with you characters too. They don't know what is happening on the next page. They only know the "now". Let them fully react to the situation at hand. BE your character. Feel the skin of your character. Imagine how it's hard for the old man to breathe. How the pain in his joints affect his walking. Feel the tone of you words. The way your plot moves. BE YOUR STORY.
I know I know. That's easier said than done. I run into that problem all the time. When I'm writing a scene and I feel like it's rushed , I'll sit back and play it out in my head. Like my own mini movie. Sometimes it helps a lot and shows me where I can plump it up.
Do you run into the "rushed" scene? How do you deal with it?
I run, sprint, flail and fall down into my scenes. I know I rush through them because I will think of things that should have happened in the scene later and have to go back and add them in. Stuff like my MCs bestie forgot to ask her about her date with the football captain. Umm...that's important stuff.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, slowing down and really feeling, seeing and sensing the scene from within and outside your character is important.
I rush scenes a lot.
ReplyDeleteAll thanks to a very active self-editor. Can't let him catch up....
*huff huff huff... writing*
I concur.I have to immerse myself in the scene to get it right ... er, um.. write. No. Right. LOL.
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you, fellow crusader!
I just ripped off your icon there too... it's outstanding. (the unfed hubby one) ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat great advice. Be in the scene. That is THE trick, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI love this post. It's so true. I rush scenes if I plan them out too much instead of just letting myself experience them as I write. Rabid pantster - that's what I've become as a result LOL!
ReplyDeleteKari,
ReplyDeleteI know right, I'm all over the place with mine.
Misha,
Girl that is so funny!
PK,
LOL you sound just like me. Take whatever you need. I got it from shabbyblogs.com. They have some really cute stuff.
Angela,
YES it is the trick. You already know what your about to throw your character but he/she doesn't and sometimes I find it hard to react the way you would if you didn'tknow what was coming.
Thanks you SO MUCH for hosting a WHO IS SAINT GIOVANNI? button on your site!! Your enthusiasm for my event and book really motivate me!! :-D
ReplyDeleteAnd I couldn't agree more about being in the moment. I'm having a really hard time being in the moment with this freelance editing project I have to finish while so many other more exciting things are happening!! LOL
Here is an odd thing I've done before. DON'T LAUGH. lol I've sat with a blanket over my head and draped over my computer screen so it was just ME and the characters. (Whatever works...right??) LOL
Well said. I usually tend to rush the endings. I guess I'm just in a hurry at that point to get done.
ReplyDelete*sigh* I rush into scenes so fast, I'm out the other side before the ink's dry! (with the poor MC puffing along trying to catch up!) The real skill, in my mind, is being able to reveal the detail in the scene, while maintaining the tension and the illusion of pace. That's when you create a page turner. :D
ReplyDeleteOh! and hi to a fellow crusader!
:Dom
Join the Crusaders
Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteRabid Panster! oh too funny. Now I'm seeing a rabid dog bent over a keyboard.
Rane,
OK Sorry chick. I had to laugh. Then laugh again. Then... hehe I'm going to stop so I can try it and laugh at myself!
Elle,
I KNOW! I get to the end and its literally "blah something, blah blah" just so I can move on. I'm soo guilty of it.
Dominic,
Welcome!! Oh yeah that's what I'm going through now. Making sure its got page turn-ability.
This reminds me of the scene I was writing, I was so into it that I really got teary-eyed. Yes, I get so into my scene that I feel every bit of it sometimes.
ReplyDeleteHi fellow crusader. I see you took a Holly Lisle course. I'm in week ten of How to Revise Your Novel and I LOVE it.
ReplyDeleteI try to imagine the scene out as I'm writing it. The atmosphere, the light, the dynamics between the characters...and that all slows me down enough to avoid it being rushed I think!
ReplyDeleteFellow Crusader saying hi. :-)
Well, people are always telling us to pick up the pacing, right? I guess sometimes we writers tend to rush things too much! Hi, I'm a fellow crusader!***waves*** Nice to "virtually" meet you! (I'm also doing the A-Z blogfest!)
ReplyDeleteDare to Follow Your Heart
Hi all. I'm heading to your blogs now.
ReplyDeleteOh man, I've been sick lately too, and it completely derails my thought process and writing Mojo. Glad you're on the mend, fellow Crusader! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks EJ. Now the kids are sick >:( Never fear Lysol is here.
ReplyDelete