Creative writing - Mike Sanders 2014

Knowing when to write scene versus summary
The longer story: The novel
Long-form genres

It’s not unusual for novels to have problems with pacing. This issue pops up in most creative writing, including my own. The trouble is that pacing issues are incredibly difficult to spot when you’re in the middle of a piece, just like how I think I’m running at a perfectly normal speed until a fellow runner shows me otherwise.

But these pacing problems can’t go unfixed. Have you ever read a book and spent several pages wondering when the author was going to get on with the story? Or has a plot ever moved so quickly, you couldn’t keep track of the action? Pacing issues are one of the most common reasons I put down a book and never pick it up again.

One of the biggest contributors to pacing is knowing when to write summaries and when to write scenes. Summaries are responsible for quickening the pace of your story because they usually involve summing up large amounts of time in a quick paragraph. Most authors have heard the caveat “to show, not tell.” Summary and telling usually go together, but it’s for the good cause of skipping unnecessary parts of your story and keeping your readers engaged.

Here’s when you should think about using summary:

·  A significant amount of time passes with no major plot points or character developments

·  You need to tell readers the character did something mundane that’s not worth exploring in depth (going to her dentist appointment, for example)

·  A character needs to encounter something that will factor in to the plot later but shouldn’t be too obvious right now (the narrator makes a casual reference to a restaurant going out of business, for example)

·  An event needs to occur for the purpose of the plot, but the event itself isn’t important (Derek’s assistant brought Sophie the files she requested at lunch, for example)

WATCH OUT!

Don’t use summaries to avoid sharing details or developing your characters.

Scenes, on the other hand, slow down your story. A scene covering a 15-minute conversation can last for several pages. A good scene involves elements such as character development, monologues and dialogues, and meatier setting descriptions.

Think about using scenes during these instances:

·  Conversations that have the potential to reveal new plot points or character developments

·  Suspenseful or tense moments, including the book’s climax

·  Events or conversations that directly relate to your book’s theme

·  Anything you instinctively know needs room to play out

Yet sometimes even scenes can truck along too quickly for your story, and you might need to deliberately slow them down. When in doubt, ask an honest friend or editor for their opinion.