How to set the scene.

[ennyedits]

Mm, I can't say it's come up often from my critters - the one comment I most often receive in that regard is to 'tone down the horror' since I do have a fondness for the macabre. But I can't recall being asked to punch it up at all. Perhaps because I rarely hand it over to them before the second draft and my own edits. That said, I get past not being able to write comedy by... not writing comedy. I find other ways to break the tension; my current book has a romantic subplot, and I find the softer moments of the protagonists falling in love work as sufficient downtime from the political intrigue.

(And all of my published work is non-fiction. I wouldn't say atmosphere is an unimportant element of non-fiction, but it's often less important.)

I like that approach! The softer romantic moments sound like a natural way to balance the political intrigue without forcing comedy into the story. Do your beta readers usually comment on how well those quieter moments balance the darker parts?

 

[LittleOwlbear]

That's what the second draft is for. You can always add in the details when editing the story.

I don't know, if I agree...
Maybe it's me, but I need to get into the scene and I can't just go back and add details. They will feel out of place to me, when I add them later in the editing, because I need to see and feel them in the scene. I need to see the scene with my character's eyes and describe what they also would describe.

In my second draft, the whole story changed, characters had been added etc., because I now know what I don't like about the first draft.

Maybe you need to get into the scenery more yourself, before or while you write the scene, OP, if that's something that would help you.

 

[Michael47]

My problem is I have always been too descriptive. I go overboard describing characters and places in too much detail and slow the rhythm of the story. I have this desire to show the reader how I see the people and scenes.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

My problem is I have always been too descriptive. I go overboard describing characters and places in too much detail and slow the rhythm of the story. I have this desire to show the reader how I see the people and scenes.

I think a lot of writers have this issue. Part of why this is a fun profession is our excitement about the worlds we create. But, yes, you don't need to describe every tree in the forest.

Team Lowan is three people, and I'm our drafter. I'm notorious for running seemingly description-free, but that's not exactly what's going on. I run really lean, but I also make a lot of descriptions serve double duty. I ask a lot if the reader needs to know about this? Is this slowing my pace? Pace is a big deal. We write Urban Fantasy at a thriller pace with lyrical language. I'm a menace, I know. But pacing is also the reins that I use to control the reader and how they experience the story. Description slows a story's pace, but you can also use it to speed things up.

Description is one of the finest tools we have at our disposal. Use it wisely.