Writing for Timing and Emphasis

stopwatch Image from clipartpanda.com free imagesI’ve talked here about pacing before, but that was about the pace of the story arc over the entire book. Today I’d like to get a little more specific about writing for pace in a particular sequence of events in a story, and also about emphasis.

Timing

Writing is nothing more than stringing together a bunch of words: verbs, nouns, pronouns, conjunctions. But when we are writing, our task is more than simply providing information to our readers. In fiction, especially, it’s all about recording and eliciting emotion. Giving our readers a sense of the timing of the action is a great way to support that emotion.

Let’s say my character, Hector Human, is running from an unknown pursuant down a dark street. The chaser is dangerous, deadly even — a predator. Hector is running for his life, even though he doesn’t understand why. He only understands the danger. How might we convey that? Continue reading “Writing for Timing and Emphasis”

Five Tips for Writing Action Scenes

Action sequences can make or break your book. We live in a world of action movies, but that doesn’t mean that our writing has to become one giant action scene. So, here’s a little checklist to make sure you don’t go overboard with your action scenes.

Continue reading “Five Tips for Writing Action Scenes”