Today we are going to discuss moving the “there” of your
story up, which is another way to deal with a boring story.
As a note, this doesn’t always work with every type of
story, but works well with character-driven stories and where the cleanup will
take a while. To go back to yesterday’s example, would moving Voldemort’s death
to book six have been effective? Probably not. But look at the end of season
one of Fringe
(FRINGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE). Originally, the other side was not going to be
introduced until much later in the narrative. But what else was left to talk
about? Not much; the only real mystery would have been the Observer.
So they moved the reveal up to the end of Season One. When
you move the “there” to earlier in your narrative, new problems come up. There
might be cleanup that is required. New characters can come in and change
dynamics. It can sometimes be annoying to do; you have a wonderful climax
planned, after all, and all that planning is now ruined. But raising the
tension earlier will actually create a better ending, if your story is based on
characters and not on the plot.
Don’t be afraid of moving your “there” to earlier in the
story if you are bored. If you think the aftereffects will be more entertaining
than your present passage, it is probably a good idea.
TODAY’S PLOT DEVICE: Have a character share a scary
childhood memory. Remember: the more details, the better! (Details=words)
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