Timeline for Effectively defusing tension after a first act climax/peak, even though the characters themselves aren't relaxed
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
6 events
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| Apr 18, 2022 at 8:20 | comment | added | Erk | Also, if your story doesn't want to slow down after the first plot point... just let it keep going and see where you end up... perhaps you need to add some low-intensity scenes just after the plot point, but you won't realize you need them until you've written more... Writing a first draft isn't like taking a test... because in editing you can go back and fix your "answers"... | |
| Apr 18, 2022 at 8:16 | comment | added | Erk | @KeizerHarm, thanks! The first draft is usually/always messy. I suggest pushing on and seeing where things end. Here's a discussion on editing or not editing as you go (I've so far had the best results just going on... especially since I have a very structured outline and the drafting phase needs to be about getting the story down—in my case): helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/should-you-edit-as-you-go-2 | |
| Apr 16, 2022 at 20:19 | comment | added | KeizerHarm | The pages you linked are very enlightening. I did use that structure (probably too messily, I can sharpen it), but the problem may be that I cannot effectively contrast a Reaction from the preceding Disaster scene (other than by chapter break, which doesn't mean much when my Disaster already covers several chapters). Or, perhaps the fact that I am so longing for a way to defuse tension is that my Disaster is taking too much time and space and I can't spare the energy to write post-event trauma on top of it... | |
| Apr 16, 2022 at 20:10 | comment | added | KeizerHarm | The first meaning is correct. I used climax in the generic sense, a peak of tension within a structure, rather than the literary sense of "the climax of the whole story". The point fulfils all criteria you gave; it is the point of no return and only after they start to act against the threat. I don't want zero tension; I just need help to write the prose immediately after this plot point with more "breathing room"; contrastingly calm and relaxed, despite the fact that the characters carry great trauma from the violent preceding events and would not be feeling calm/relaxed themselves. | |
| Apr 16, 2022 at 13:04 | history | edited | Erk | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 154 characters in body
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| Apr 16, 2022 at 12:50 | history | answered | Erk | CC BY-SA 4.0 |