Cinematic
I could’ve titled this entry “Doubt” again like the previous one. As the stakes of my story get higher, and the threads I’m weaving are only just beginning to come together, I have doubts again. More than ever before. Is it getting ridiculous? Is it still believable? Even a fantasy story has to be believable. I love these characters so much, and they’ve grown in me for such a long time, that it would end me if anyone hated them.
I sound ridiculous.
So to give my characters and story depth, I try to draw the reader in. I check my writing against this list I made:
- Vivid Descriptions: Are my scenes detailed and vivid enough? Can someone visualize what I imagined the scene to be? Are there enough sounds, smells, textures?
- Dynamic Characters: Do my characters fall flat in any given scene? I was acutely aware of this in chapters 4–7. So much dialog, so much having to establish these people as individuals and not just an amalgamation of voices in my head. Can you hear their conflicts, emotions, distant personalities? You’re all seeing this through one guy’s view after all.
- Strong Emotional Resonance: What the title says. Is it resonating? Ahhhhhh.
- Visual Storytelling: Is there enough show rather than tell? I have so much dialog. Is it too much? Is it balanced?
- Pacing and Structure: I mean, I already had comments for too many cliffhangers at the end of chapters. Haha. So there is a kind of structure. Is that structure working? How is the pacing? Do you get bored reading it?
- Use of Dialogs and Internal Monologs: Are the dialogs believable or are they “cringe”? Is my protagonist talking to himself in his head too little or too much? Is the wolf voice working?
- Dramatic Tension and Conflict: Does the plot come across? Am I just stringing people along? Carrot on a stick too much or just right?
- Imaginative and Dynamic Scenes: Is there enough action? Cinematic storytelling should come through here. I might be tainted by having watched too many shows and too many movies. But I don’t think it’s a bad thing for this to happen on page. Is it working?
I’m very methodical. But sucking up all the information out there like a sponge still doesn’t mean you’ll be able to bring it all together.
Maybe this list helps someone else, too. Now I’ll go back to panicking about the rising stakes in my story. Ridiculous.
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