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Common, repeatable methods of achieving particular storytelling effects or of avoiding narrative pitfalls.

26 votes
7 answers
6k views

How can I make "acts of patience" exciting?

It is a common technique [...] to represent qualities and emotions through physical actions. [...] But it is hard to translate patience into action. [...] …
21 votes
7 answers
3k views

Detail vs. filler

How can I minimise the "filler" text that I end up writing when fleshing out a scene with detail? An appropriate level of detail seems to me to be a fundamental requirement for good prose. Whatever I …
2 votes

Secondary characters in character-study fiction

Adding a couple of points to @Mark Baker's answer (please read that one first). It is fine if the secondary characters exist solely for the purpose of supporting the main character, but don't let the …
sesquipedalias's user avatar
10 votes

Rapid change in character

Time is an illusion in storytelling--one that you, the author, create. You can skip millenia just by saying that they passed, and you can spend as many pages as you wish to describe a single moment, f …
sesquipedalias's user avatar
9 votes

What are some bad ways to subvert tropes?

There's a danger with subverting tropes, in that you can end up giving misleading promises ... e.g. your story seems to be a romcom for the first 20 pages but then !surprise! it's a horror--well, all …
Chris Sunami's user avatar
  • 56.5k
13 votes

How can I convince my reader that I will not use a certain trope?

It seems you need to come out as an omniscient, reliable narrator and directly tell your audience the fact you want them to have no doubt about. One, often problematic, way to do this is in a prologue …
sesquipedalias's user avatar