Do Violence to Your
Reader, Part III:
The Trough and the Wave
by Jill Elizabeth Nelson
The most effective storytellers have a highly developed
sense of rhythm and balance. Every wave on the ocean is followed by a trough,
and every trough is followed by a wave. The variety is found in the depth of
the trough and the height of the wave. This sense of rhythm and balance
requires both instinct and planned design. Developing the knack takes practice,
but is well worth the bother.
In writing circles, we talk often about heightening the
tension and escalating the conflict, but a subtle and necessary aspect of
tightening the screws on your characters, and thereby, on your readers is to
know when to back off. Let your characters—and your readers—take a deep breath
before plunging them once more beneath the stormy waves of tension and emotion.
These short-lived lulls serve not toward dullness in the
story, but actually emphasize and highlight the tension, just as the trough of
a wave emphasizes the crest of the next wave sweeping in. Our object as writers
is not to wear our readers out with perpetual motion, but to draw them ever
onward, eager to experience the next emotionally resonant moment.
For instance, in a romance the hero and heroine might savor
a sweet and gentle idyll together, but then something occurs to throw them once
again into emotional turmoil or physical danger or both. The rapport between
the characters is rendered the more poignant and precious by its loss, thus
raising the stakes in the reader’s mind for the characters to regain both their
safety and intimacy.
In a suspense novel, the heroine might enjoy a brief respite
from danger in a return to ordinary daily activities. However, safety proves to
be an illusion as the next and more horrific moment of danger overtakes her.
Briefly experiencing the false security of the ordinary raises the terror bar on
the next eruption of evil both for the character and for the reader.
Perhaps you have never consciously noticed these rhythms in
your reading, but you may be using them at some level by instinct in your
writing. Becoming aware of the rhythms will enable you to consciously and
strategically employ them in your stories.
Here’s your assignment:
Pick up a novel that made a profound impact on you, and evaluate
it for the trough and wave rhythms that gripped and fascinated you. How might
you apply those rhythms to your current WIP (work in progress)?
~~~~~
Award-winning author and writing teacher,
Jill Elizabeth Nelson, writes what she likes to read—tales of adventure
seasoned with romance, humor, and faith. Jill is a popular speaker for
conferences, writers groups, library associations, and civic and church groups.
She delights to bring the “Ah-ah!
Moment” to her students as they make new skills their own. Her handbook for
writers, Rivet Your Readers with Deep
Point of View, is now available at Amazon (see links below).
Connect with Jill:
(print version) (e-book version)
