Opening doors and getting off planes

[shadowscast]

Sometimes I just worry that what I'm writing is very boring.

Is it useful to show a character on the airplane, in the airport, or should I cut in the next day when his jet lag is half gone and he's already on his way to the first Important Plot Point? Does it add, say, to the fullness of the narrative, of the character development? Of the creation of mood? Or is it just dead weight?

Obviously it could go either way - dead weight or important mood-setting - depending on how it's done.

My short stories tend to be long; I prefer novels. When I read pro fiction I choose novels almost exclusively over short stories. I think one of the big appeals of fan fic for me is that a fic is always kind of like a chapter in a longer novel - there's already been plenty of leisurely establishing of character and place.

I read somewhere, sometime, that amateur writers tend to "open too many doors" - that is, they start the scene a few moments earlier than necessary. The opening of the door is mundane and adds nothing to the scene, which could just as well start with the character just inside. (Exceptions: when the opening of the door is not mundane. When the door must be kicked down, or the lock picked, or the strange door-graffitti analysed. Yeah, there's always exceptions.)

Anyway. I'm pretty sure that's one of my big weaknesses.

Comments

[dodyskin.livejournal.com]

Hi. I think it depends on your writing style dunnit? If you're all flowery and introspective then you can go with a few short sentences describing moods/thought/images throughout the journey and it would be fine. If you're all action!dialogue then maybe it could get a bit list-ey. Ask on one of the fic communites I spose.

[eliade.livejournal.com]

If you're fascinated by what you're writing--if it is offering something twisty and cool and fun--then it's probably worth keeping. If it's exposition, it might be worth summarizing. I've also read writing advice about where to start a story; it's still something that comes up recurrently--it's not something I feel I've nailed yet and perhaps never will. I've learned how to drop out of moment-by-moment narration into succinct summary, and back again, but I still feel dubious about the technique. And as for starting a story at the most opportune point--I've got no clue about that. I bet I start too soon fairly often.

More and more I try to integrate the shortcuts of TV writing into my fan-fiction where useful (along with episodic structure, which is handy) so that might be something to think about. A while back I watched the first three episodes of the series "Alias" and that was just: wow. The amount of narrative ground those three episodes cover is just amazing. It jumps into the story mid-stream and kicks right into high gear. My metaphors are all mixy, but you know what I mean perhaps. ;>)

See me, I babble. And now I go.

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

I think one of the tricky things about deciding where to start a story, or scene, is that there often isn't just one right choice (though there are probably lots of wrong ones). It's just that it'll be a completely different story/scene depending on where you start.

I struggle with that narrative thing, too - making smooth transitions between moment-by-moment and summary. Ideally, the reader should barely even notice it's happening. As the writer, it's so hard to judge whether I'm successful in that way because of course I notice the structure - I'm the one who put it there.

One technique I've tried (though I don't want to overdo it) is when I hit a period I want to just summarize, I do a scene break and skip to a point just after that period, and have the viewpoint character do the summary for me (in the form of thinking about what just happened). It works nicely sometimes.

I've never seen the show Alias, so I don't know specifically what you mean, but I like the idea of bringing TV techniques into fanfic. It seems to make a lot of sense.

And by the way: I'm thrilled to bits that you're posting in my LJ. :) Your "Sidelines" was the very first BtVS fic I ever read, and I loved it, and therefore I worship you. You are like unto a goddess.