"the idea that "rising action" might have something to do with "returning to those things we have already set in motion"" -- that is SO useful - thank you! I'm chewing the cud on this one, utilizing all four stomachs.
"the idea that "rising action" might have something to do with "returning to those things we have already set in motion"" -- that is SO useful - thank you! I'm chewing the cud on this one, utilizing all four stomachs.
I have been too. (Well, not the stomachs, actually, but equivalent intensity of attention in the mind.) I re-read the chapter in Pond in the Rain on 'The Darling' with the escalation exercise in mind and am now trying to apply to a story...
Also, the idea that the escalation or 'rising action' is about the internal technical workings of the story, rather than increased drama in the events that are narrated, is important for me. I think I had always rather assumed the latter before.
Yes - such a good point. With kid's literature increasing the drama is always emphasized, though "literary" children's writers don't necessarily do that - Kate diCamillo, Gary Schmidt, Rebecca Stead, and others. Also I guess in adult genre writing - there are expectations about drama or sim. e.g. in detective/police procedurals (which I enjoy sometimes). I'm now starting draft 6 of my mystery/spy/historical/kid's novel -- with Story Club at my back! and I'm thinking about what is returned to later that I'm setting in motion early on, and how it can thicken the middle which sags in earlier versions. Maybe saggy middles are especially a problem in plot/drama-driven longer stories and novels. Anyway - I'm feeling really good that I have found a way to thicken the texture in the middle with a thematically related but not so dramatic plot thread that still will be engaging to my young (and not so young) readers. I think. I hope!
Sounds good! I think with any kind of novel that has 'something to be fathomed' at its core, (whether children's, crime, mystery or anything else) it is satisfying when the author has planted a seed early on which germinates just a little after the point I have stopped thinking about it. That is, i can still recall it, but i have stopped expecting that it will turn out to be significant. If several of those moments happened in the middle, it would certainly cure the novel of sagginess for me!
"the idea that "rising action" might have something to do with "returning to those things we have already set in motion"" -- that is SO useful - thank you! I'm chewing the cud on this one, utilizing all four stomachs.
I have been too. (Well, not the stomachs, actually, but equivalent intensity of attention in the mind.) I re-read the chapter in Pond in the Rain on 'The Darling' with the escalation exercise in mind and am now trying to apply to a story...
Also, the idea that the escalation or 'rising action' is about the internal technical workings of the story, rather than increased drama in the events that are narrated, is important for me. I think I had always rather assumed the latter before.
Yes - such a good point. With kid's literature increasing the drama is always emphasized, though "literary" children's writers don't necessarily do that - Kate diCamillo, Gary Schmidt, Rebecca Stead, and others. Also I guess in adult genre writing - there are expectations about drama or sim. e.g. in detective/police procedurals (which I enjoy sometimes). I'm now starting draft 6 of my mystery/spy/historical/kid's novel -- with Story Club at my back! and I'm thinking about what is returned to later that I'm setting in motion early on, and how it can thicken the middle which sags in earlier versions. Maybe saggy middles are especially a problem in plot/drama-driven longer stories and novels. Anyway - I'm feeling really good that I have found a way to thicken the texture in the middle with a thematically related but not so dramatic plot thread that still will be engaging to my young (and not so young) readers. I think. I hope!
Sounds good! I think with any kind of novel that has 'something to be fathomed' at its core, (whether children's, crime, mystery or anything else) it is satisfying when the author has planted a seed early on which germinates just a little after the point I have stopped thinking about it. That is, i can still recall it, but i have stopped expecting that it will turn out to be significant. If several of those moments happened in the middle, it would certainly cure the novel of sagginess for me!
Oh yeah - ThatтАЩs a very satisfying readerly moment!