Can you believe it's already Thursday, the first week of May? Gosh, time is zooming!
This week I have picked up some critique work but mostly I've been restructuring the plot of my story. Last week I received some daunting insight from a friend on why she thinks I've lost momentum in my story. Overall, we agree that I've put too much information about my characters' background and motivation in the beginning chapters and left very little to sprinkle at crucial points throughout the story. Pacing is so important, apparently. New writers, I've heard and read, tend to make the mistake of putting everything and the kitchen sink in the first few chapters and overexplaining character motivations, settings and stage direction in the first act of the story. I'm now working on the skill of slowing down and understanding that as the writer, I know the characters, settings, actions and reactions but must show the readers these things instead of telling them. And telling takes time, patience and skill.
As you edit your work, do you find that you've put too much out there in the beginning?
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3 comments:
I think this is a common error among new writers. This is exactly what I'm doing now with my MS -- spreading some of the backstory throughout the first three chapters. It's a lot of work, but live and learn ...
Oh yeah.
I havent' reached that happy medium yet. Either it's to much or not enough. LOL!
The good thing is nothing has to be chopped out--just replaced. :)
Definitely! I'm still fighting that monster.
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