Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Reason for Being

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been ripping out one of my novel's plot strands, redesigning it,and knitting it back in again. It can be a painstaking process.
I was stymied by one particular scene. I had moved the setting back in time, and Jane, my main character, was learning how to bake biscuits in an old fireplace. I'd done my research, and managed to get in the steps involved without overwhelming the reader with information and bogging down the pacing. But something was missing. What on earth was it?
I was reading an article in the SCBWI Bulletin www.scbwi.org about putting emotion into illustrations when I realized that was what was lacking. The scene wasn't about Jane baking biscuits, it was about how Jane felt baking those biscuits. My scene finally had a reason for being.

2 comments:

Laurie Smith Murphy said...

I've been working on a scene as I've been reworking my story threads, and had to remember why it was there in the first place. When I discovered why it was there and that it had a reason to be there, it flowed much easier. There always needs to be a reason for being...
Thanks, Linda.

Linda Crotta Brennan said...

So true!
Can't wait to hear more about your novel!