Variety, White Space, Pacing, Conflict and PONR

1. Assortment of style is necessary in any work. Whether you're writing fiction or non-fiction, there must be a assortment of information told in different ways to maintain the reader interested.

In non-fiction, assortment might be created by using narrative, description, facts or narratives and then slugs to divide other information.

In fiction, assortment is used by adding description, setting, duologue (interior and exterior) and action. Readers necessitate a alteration to maintain them interested. Longwinded narration causes the norm reader to skip, scan and be bored. Using too much narration intends you are telling the story.

You desire to show the story. Better yet, you desire your fictional characters to state the narrative through their actions, words and thoughts.

2. Using achromatic space helps the reader procedure the information in the story/work, gives their eyes a interruption and maintains them interested. Look at each page as if it were a work of art.

Some sentences will have got more than than impact on their own.

Other sentences necessitate more information and will germinate into a long paragraph of critical information. Remember that anything non-vital should be cut out. Change sentence construction and length. And maintain in head that the longer the paragraph, the more than opportunity that person will jump it. Our eyes be given to naturally look for achromatic space.

And the sentences closest to the achromatic space are the 1s most remembered.

You can also derive achromatic space by interspersing narration with dialogue. Dialogue is a manner for your fictional characters to state the narrative and for the reader to see the character. It is also a word form of action, and action not only travels the narrative along but do the reader desire to maintain reading.

3. Tempo is also very important. If something is happening in a easy pace, you can stress this by having long, drawn out sentences in a lyrical prose.

If something is happening quickly, then run! Let your sentences punctuate. Short and choppy. But don't overexploitation crumbled sentences in a row, or punctuation like exclaiming marks. Keep colons and semi-colons for non-fiction, Oregon if used in fiction, usage very sparingly.

Pace your events so that something of import haps in every chapter. A good diagnostic test is to read the first chapter, then jump the adjacent and read the third. If you don't necessitate the information in the 2nd chapter, if it doesn't uncover something important, then cut it.

4. If possible, include a struggle in every chapter. And you don't have got to decide it in the same chapter. Conflict assists to increase tension, and that additions the pacing.

5. Use the 'point of no return' as a hook. 'Point of no return' (PONR) is a twist, where something haps to a fictional character and they do a determination that you (the reader) cognizes will impact the result of the story. If we removed that element, the narrative would be level and would not travel in the same direction. There are often many of these in one story. And they work exceptionally well if used at the end of a chapter as a hook to do the reader maintain reading.

Think of the film The Brave One with Jodie Foster. Even if you haven't seen it, you probably cognize the general gist. A adult female and adult male are beaten in a park. The adult male deceases and the adult female travels on a violent disorder of revenge.

The first point of no tax return is where they make up one's mind to walk in a dark parkland and travel through a tunnel, even when something proposes that all is not right.

The adjacent PONR happens when the adult female purchases a gun. What make we cognize will happen? We cognize she's going to seek to hit someone.

The adjacent PONR is when she hits the first person. Now we cognize that person will be looking for her. Volition she be caught? Volition she be locked away? Volition she die?

In every work of fiction there is at least one episode of PONR. It can be used in comedy, romance, mystery, horror, sci-fi, etc.

Using these 5 structural elements will maintain your work interesting and maintain those pages turning, and that is what a author desires most of all. When authorship fiction, there are some elements that most authors happen confusing. One is POV or point of position and another is duologue and the proper usage of duologue tags and beats. If you're writing fiction, you necessitate to understand these. Read about them online or in books like Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

©2007 Cheryl Kaye Tardif