Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Rambling! The Bane of Pace

This is exactly why Lesbian and Literary fiction never mix! Bring on the finger-frig!You know, this is exactly what I've suffered from all along - and why Lesbian and Literary fiction never mix.

No sooner have I brought my dastardly villain to bear on the damsel than I'm describing the curtains or over-egging the moment with a flourish about who shined the floor.

That's exactly why when I do get around to writing that novel I keep putting off, it's with immediate drive (and I don't recommend you trying this at home kids), and sans description - I hope on the second pass that I can add it in without fluffing it and going back round in a circle.

Anyhoo, some of you may note the name Discordia (tis one of the witches from my novel). Yeah, I know you've not seen a version that mentions her for quite some years. She is still present.

For more literary cartoons, by moi. Check out http://www.litopia.com/litoon.

5 comments:

MG said...

Cute!!!
Bet your bro is glad you gave him an excuse to draw boobies.
I think you've illustrated why verbosity can work on a graphic novel (ask Alan Moore!). The eye goes where it wants. You've split the focus enough that we can enjoy the descriptive stuff as a sidebar, if we choose.
In a atraight prose narrative it can be distracting...but on the other hand some form of description, before any extreme act, does have its place...a dexcription of emotional context.
My first editor had a very easy rule about such things.
Some description is fine. Keep it down to one/two sentences. (this is for children's)
As a writer though...ask yourself this: when it comes to approaching your money shot, why are you thinking about the curtains...?

solv said...

This problem actually dissipates when you launch into a full novel, so you might take some comfort from that. (Partly because you have so much other stuff to deliver!)
I'd suggest that the questions to ask yourself are:
Do I want the pace to slow here?
If you do want the pace to slow, ask yourself
WHY?
and
FOR HOW LONG?
Simples.

MG said...

Solv is spot on.

A descriptive moment slows pace but...you can use that to great effect when it's deliberate.

R1X said...

Thanks guys :)

I guess the big place to put location is for comedy effect, ala the comic :)

MG said...

Not necessarily just comedic.

Think of how a film director uses image. The last thing you see before you die or before something hugely dramatic happens...it can be a little detail you focus on. Vito Corleone with the orange-teeth just before he dies, or the way the oranges fall from the bag before he is shot. You can use this in narrative fiction also. But best to keep it brief!