Are there sections in your book where you want the reader to zip through it screaming at full speed? Here are some good ways to do it, but this list isn't exhaustible.
Put the sentence verb as close to the beginning as possible. If you do this, the reader will speed through the writing in nothing flat. Be careful you don't do this everywhere. It's frustrating reading, "Strolling down the road, Joe saw a bear" for 300+pages.
Use short sentences. A reader doesn't feel like they're tackling a hippo if the sentences are short. They're easy reading. Use them.
Fill the page with as many empty spots as possible with paragraph breaks. You might think, "That's cheap!" You bet! It works every time too.
Use a good measure of dialogue. It's amazing how fast dialogue speeds up the reader.
Keep in mind there will be times you want to slow the reader down. You don't want them reading at the pace of a charging bull during a guarden scene. It messes up the kung-fu.
Does anyone have other techniques to add? I know this isn't everything out there.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Making a Quick Pace
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4 comments:
Rather off topic: That Tim Hawkins video is good! I saw some of his other videos and they're all funny. Have you seen his 'Corporate Worship Tunes'?
~Kiwifruit
Oh yeah! He's got a movie out, Full Range of Motion. I've seen it two or three times, but I'm always laughing.
Another off topic. Do you use photoshop? mom got Element for her b-day. And I'm not sure how to start. Do you know of any basic tutorials or should I just keep thrashing? I'm good at that...just ask my mom
Use the tutorials. If you want to know how to make pictures look great, don't read the manual. There's a book out there, Teach Yourself Visually, Adobe Photoshop, that helped me a lot.
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