Happy Monday, everyone!
But, first, some links to celebrate Charles Dickens' 200th birthday--which would be all the more impressive, except that the characters in my novel are well over 300.
Here is a link to Dickens' 1st draft of A Christmas Carol, complete with hand edits.
Here is an NPR article on the matter.
Okay, now back to me. I finished the first draft of Cyberlama this weekend, which really is just more of a psychological barrier than anything else. I had been stuck on the last chapter for a couple of weeks, and the only way I could finish it and move on was to write something that will likely be completely replaced in a few days. Still, I feel like I can move forward. Soo-ey!
I immediately started to read through the story so that I could start shaping it, and the first thing I noticed was that the pacing gets steadily faster as I make progress toward the end. The first three chapters take about 50 pages, while the remaining 15 chapters take about 150. I look at the later scenes and they don't seem that rushed. But I think what happened was that I only hit the dramatic highs of the story and didn't take care to include the lows, the breathers.
Thinking about this takes me back to some posts I had done months if not years ago about the necessity of slow--dare I say boring--scenes in a book. I think the automatic response is that no scene in the book should be boring, or that boring is too subjective a concept to really discuss. But, I somehow keep returning to the same conclusion that a book needs to have at least one boring scene for me to feel like I've gone through a long journey with it.
The best analogy I can think of is a hike I used to do while I was in the Boy Scouts. Every Monday we would go up about 3.5 miles to Heninger Flats in the San Gabriel Mountains. It was a nice hike because it wasn't very far, and we used it to stay conditioned for the longer hikes we would take once a month.
I've always been fairly good at moving uphill. I love stairs, and the Heninger Hike was just steep enough to make things fun for me. The only part I hated was at about 2.7 miles, when there was a stretch of really steep switchbacks. The scenery at that part of the hike was boring, as there were no trees or pretty rocks. It was just a narrow trail going up, and whenever I reached it I would tell myself to get it over with because by the time I was done I knew that the hike was almost over.
I would wonder if the Heninger Hike would be more fun if that stretch was taken out, but usually I came to the conclusion that I would never want it to be that way. That tedious part, the hardest part of the hike, made it that much more satisfying to me when I got to the end.
For me, it's the same with books. To feel like I have completed a hard journey, I need to have experienced that steep hike, the few pages that felt like work. I think on a fictional level, there are two reasons why this is necessary. First, it gives the subconscious impression that the characters have also gone through a hard journey. Second, it makes the story feel more real because, unless you're Tina Turner, you probably experience tedious and boring episodes in your own life. (Note: I really know very little about Tina Turner.)
So, that's my contentious argument for this Monday. Put a boring scene in your book. I know I will!
Yes, I must agree with you there. Boring gets us through the emotional highs and lows of the read. If we don't "rest" for a few pages, the feeling is rushed, and there's not time to savor the experience of reading.
ReplyDeleteLike a fine wine -- if you open, pour, and drink it all in one gulp, you miss the extraordinary experience of letting it breathe, of contemplating the aroma, of allowing your taste buds to luxuriate in the taste as it tickles the back of your tongue.
Anne, yeah, I think it somehow hurts the reading experience if the story is "too tight." I want my book to be the fine wine! :)
Deletethe only way I could finish it and move on was to write something that will likely be completely replaced in a few days.
ReplyDeleteI so resemble that statement...
I was worried that if I admitted this my brain would figure out that I was trying to trick it. So far, though, it's still working.
DeleteI think I agree that boring (or slow, as I'd call them) scenes can be beneficial, though I also agree that "boring" is too subjective a term to really discuss appropriately.
ReplyDeleteIt seems if things fly by, there's no way to really tell how fast they're flying by, and I can get a little lost. It's nice to have some perspective in any story, though even in those slow chapters something should still be happening, the story should be moving forward, albeit at a slower pace ;)
J.R. Nova, "Perspective" is a great word to describe what I was trying to get at. Thank you. I think in reading through my story again I'm feeling like I haven't captured the sense of time in the story. The perspective is lost.
DeleteI'm not sure I'd call those scenes boring as much as I'd call them slow breathers, as you say. There's a section in THIRDS that every single reader has mentioned as kind of boring. Not bad, but a little slow. It's necessary section, and has a lot of talking and explaining. I could have put in more action, but I have chosen not to because I think there needs to be breathers like that. I hate the rule that there has to be tension on every page. I'm sorry, but if a book is like that, I get too tired to enjoy the dang thing, and oftentimes, it feels forced.
ReplyDeleteReally great post, Davin.
Michelle, thanks for your example, and I think you make a good point that it can feel forced. I think an organic story progression is able to include slower scenes.
DeleteI love the idea of endorsing "boring" scenes. It flies in the face of everything I seem to keep hearing right now. Books that just keep moving wear me out too, and I'm actually more likely to put those books down than a book that alternates pacing (or even a book that is just out right slower paced).
ReplyDeleteN.M. Martinez, I know that I've been frustrated by a lot of recent movies, particularly animated films because they feel like every second is jam packed with something to get a laugh or to make an emotional impact. It makes me feel out of breath, and like Michelle says, it feels forced. Movies like that have made me seek out more slower-paced works, both books and movies, too.
DeleteI respectfully disagree. Now I don't dispute that there are times when a slower scene can be effective, even brilliant, for pacing or other reasons (provided it is done well). But I don't think one is always needed. I like an exhilarating headlong rush, so long as it doesn't make the story feel incomplete (as if the author cut out important parts of the story to keep the pace fast). All other things being equal, I prefer a quick pace to a languid one.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think slow should ever mean boring. I think a "breather" scene needs to work extra hard to be interesting. Side trips are welcome, but not dull ones.
I wouldn't want my readers to find finishing one of my stories was an achievement, but rather an experience like awakening from an extraordinary dream. (tip of hat to John Gardner there). But I see where you're coming from there, and I think there are a lot of great authors of great books who would likely agree with you.
I should amend that last statement. I would actually love readers to see reading through one of my stories is an achievement, so long as it is a good achievement and worth it (as you surely mean). What I meant to say is that that is not how I view a reader's best-case response to my work.
DeleteJabez, excellent comment, thank you. You know, I actually often feel conflicted over this point of feeling like the reading experience has been an achievement. That's the one part of my post that I don't necessarily always agree with. Banana Yoshimoto has said that she spends a lot of her time trying to make her books easier to read, and I totally get and respect that. At the same time, I always feel good when I read something that makes me feel like I've worked for it. Perhaps there's room in the world for both!
DeleteI also agree a story needs down time, especially after a great deal of emotional upheaval or physical action. The reader needs to process everything that happened and in some instances the characters do, too. Too many books I've read lately pile astonishing revelations on top of bad things happening on top of most horrific thing ever, and I'm so emotionally drained by the end that I can hardly remember what I read. A quiet scene can give greater impact to action sequences. The trick is to make the down time restful and not boring. Boring turns quiet contemplation into pointless scene of slog that I skim to get back to exciting stuff.
ReplyDeletemidmightblooms, I definitely don't want to be skim-worthy. It's a challenging balance to be slow and quiet--even boring, for me--without coming off as being valueless.
DeleteI think that's the trick. A quiet scene has to have value--or perhaps purpose--to keep from being boring. Quiet things can also be important. I have to remind myself of that all the time.
DeleteI might have a problem with the word "boring" here, but otherwise I'll agree. I also like books that slow down the pace and take the focus off of a swiftly-moving plot. Last week we talked about the "suspended animation" scenes in our own novels.
DeleteIn general, no matter what the pace is, if a novel-length story moves at a single, unvaried pace it gets annoying, tiring even. Like being on a treadmill.
Tara Maya says this: I had to laugh at your contrarian post on putting in boring scenes. I'm afraid I can't agree. Or maybe it's just that I have less confidence than you that the scenes I find exciting won't bore the reader anyway.
ReplyDeleteIs your latest book sf? My feeling is that sf and epic fantasy already force the reader to climb quite a slope to reach their payoff. Further obstacles are hardly necessary. If I need to explain how my characters tan hides and make haggis (which I don't but tell myself I do) then I already have ample opportunity for boring my readers despite my best intentions otherwise. If I must throw in debates about free will (which I don't but tell myself I do) then I am very likely boring plenty of readers already. Alas, they aren't likely to finish my book for the sense of accomplishment.
I'm with the group that respectfully disagrees with you. Most novels need passages that give the reader time to take a breath, to notice the scenery, to catch up with character's sundry traumas. But this need not be boring. Occasionally I read a passage and wonder, 'why is the writer telling me this?' So you can be bored for a few pages isn't good enough. Because I'm give you time to look at the scenery, and I'm doing it in the most poetic way I know how - that works better.
ReplyDeleteLooks like I sit in the "anti-boring" camp, hehe. Maybe it's the term "boring" that I'm struggling with because, for me, boring = skippable. If a book slows to the point of stagnant, I'll either skim ahead or close the book all together. I appreciate highs and lows in a novel, a quick and slow, but I don't know that there is room for boring. *shrugs* Personal preference, right? Which is why there is such a wide variety of books :)
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