Raise your hand if you find yourself clicking all of those little videos on social media? Maybe you don’t even click them, but they start playing automatically and next thing you know, you’ve wasted five minutes on a baby smearing yogurt on their face, a goat “laughing,” or a SNL skit of the latest debate reenactment. I find myself increasingly drawn to these videos and I’m not sure why—I don’t even like TV much. In fact, I tend to get bored by it rather quickly. So what is going on here? Why am I—and most of us—drawn to these cutesy little gimmicks designed to grab our attention? What’s more, how can we apply that reasoning to our manuscripts? (Because, let’s face it, we need to draw our readers in just as easily, and delight them to keep their interest.) There’s something to learn from these videos…
Characters need rest (and so do readers): Your characters should be undergoing a series of tests constantly, but they do need a break from the shit-storm of tension and stakes, and the myriad of emotional horrors you’re throwing at them. These rest periods are true to life, for one, but the other reason is, your readers need a break as well. They need time to process what’s happening to the character, and time to watch the m.c. grapple internally with all that has happened to them.
For example, take the movie The Revenant with Leonardo DiCaprio. One horrific thing happens after another, so that by the time you hit the climax—or the supposed climax—you’re fairly inured to both the violence and the m.c.’s struggles. As the viewers, we haven’t had that real ‘coming down’ period to digest these traumas, or seen the protagonist digest them either. The events in that movie may have been true-to-life, but in fiction, we need transition scenes and rest periods to watch the character grow and deepen. Or, as I like to say, the m.c. needs “to catch a breath” and gather their strength for the next mishap headed their way.
Pacing matters more than you think: How long are most of the video clips on average? Those in my feed are consistently two to five minutes in length. The creators understand something really important: people are busy and don’t want to spend much time on them. This is true in fiction as well. When writing a scene, consider how long you’ll capture your reader’s interest. What makes this scene compelling? How can you create urgency to keep the pace moving along? If you don’t balance the pace properly, readers will close the book.
The hook is real: Take a minute to examine what it is, precisely, that drew you in to watch this video. Is it the topic? The way the video triggers an emotional response you can relate to? Is it a humorous snippet mocking a hot button issue? Whatever it is, you’ve become interested because you’ve connected with it in some way. Consider how you hook your readers with your book. You likely get that two to five minute window I mentioned above in “pacing” to hook a new reader with your opening scene, your jacket copy, and your cover. Maybe this is because we’ve devolved into a bunch of squirrels on crack since the advent of the internet, but it may also be due to the ever-expanding number of choices we have. All of those choices means, the competition for our time is steep. If your hook doesn’t STRIKE SOME INNER CHORD with your reader, you’ve lost them.
A sprinkle of humor goes a long way: It doesn’t matter what genre your novel is, humor is always an effective way to keep the reader’s attention. A touch of levity not only brightens a dangerous, tense, or difficult situation, but it can also effectively add depth to a character by demonstrating a new facet to their personality.
We, as human beings, can only take so much of the shootings, political hysteria, trolls and hate mail, and the constant bombardment of what’s wrong with our world. Sometimes we need rest. Sometimes we need something cute, or funny, or inspiring—just as our characters do. Beware of this ebb and flow in your protagonist’s world and throw them a life raft of something fun, addictive, or escapist for a change.
What are your favorite videos and why do they grab your attention? How can you apply the same reasoning to your manuscript?
About Heather Webb
Heather Webb is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of historical fiction. To date, Heather’s books have sold in over a dozen countries worldwide. As a freelance editor, Heather has helped many writers sign with agents and go on to sell at market. When not writing, she feeds her cookbook addiction, geeks out on history and pop culture, and looks for excuses to head to the other side of the world.
Hi Heather. Keeping writers mindful of the importance of pace makes good sense–thank you. Donald Maass’s post on October 5 takes up the same thing, “Four Kinds of Pace.” https://writerunboxed.com/2016/10/05/four-kinds-of-pace/
I’ll have to check out his post. I missed that one! I’m teaching a craft session on pace this weekend at the Writer’s Digest conference as it seems to be a topic not covered enough. Thanks for your comments, as always, Barry.
Good stuff, Heather! Me, I’m a sucker for movie trailers. Particularly for fantasy/scifi movies. I know you know I’m a geek, so I won’t worry about admitting that I joined all of geekdom in the collective nerd-gasm last year when the first trailer premiered for The Force Awakens (and practically broke the internet).
In the world’s introduction to Rey, we see her as a scavenger, harvesting parts from crashed starships. The voice-over is a woman asking: “Who are you?” The response: “I’m no one.” We instinctively know it’s Rey answering. And we also instinctively sense that she’s an outsider. She’s an every-woman. She’s one of us. She might even feel powerless. And big things are about to happen to her.
My point? Two lines, delivered in voice-over, and we have a character’s foundation. Powerful storytelling indeed. Every time I start to doubt the power of words, something like that trailer comes along to remind me.
Thanks for all of these reminders!
I like the movie trailers as well, especially since I don’t have cable TV. That’s the only way I’ve kept up on what new films are releasing. The Facebook gods have seemed to figure that out because now every historical or drama film/show releasing keeps showing up in my feed. The masters over in Hollywood sure know how to hook us!
Also, cheers to one geek from another! :)
Thank you Heather for this reminder.
I learned about “the rest” as a fiver artist. Complex art quilts need to draw the viewers eye and if too busy they quit looking. Color, size and contrast are all important. When I started writing I found this was so true…lots of cuts in my revisions because I keep my characters too busy.
That’s a great example, Robin. I’ve found this to be true with book covers as well. Less is almost always more, if the “right” combination of images and fonts are used. Thanks for stopping by today!
Heather, even the picture you chose to accompany this article made me smile. My favorite videos are those of animals doing silly things. What I’m learning from these videos is that even in a serious book, you can sprinkle in some humor to lighten the mood.
Pacing. I struggle with this. I agree that in some books you just stop caring because there is so much violence, it’s just another dead body. I tried putting in a little breather/resting space in my novel (kind of the calm before the storm) because my MC kept getting into more and more trouble, and I felt tired. LOL. My mentor editor said, “No.” I know you want to give a rest to your MC but the reader does not want to rest. Follow through without a break. And I must say the tension is unbearable. Even for me, and I’m the writer cooking this up.
Hi Vijaya, struggles with pacing are common. With each new manuscript, I find I have to work on it a while to feel the rhythm as there’s a different rhythm for each book, each character. It helps me to read scenes aloud, or chapters aloud. You can get a real sense of cumbersome, lumbering areas that way. Much luck to you as you go!
I’m a sucker for a funny dog video. Probably because I have a funny dog. Now that I’m thinking about it, I could easily include dogs in my stories. It would be a nice distraction from the seriousness of my plots. And since I’m writing for middle-graders, it’s probably a requirement that I drop in a funny moment or ten.
Thanks for the post, fellow brat!
Yes! Use a pooch for distraction and humor. Animals really soften a character as well, so use that to your advantage. :) I happen to be a sucker for the panda videos…
I remember in English Lit class while grappling with Shakespeare’s tragedies the humorous moments (usually between two clowning bit characters) that would crop up, and the teacher explaining the term “comic relief”. Shakespeare at his darkest always threw these little scenes in. A forerunner of the videos?
Shakespeare was a brilliant man (or men. lol). Thanks for stopping by today, Bernadette
My friends have started posting cute animal pics/videos on fb with the #detox16, to make up for all the deaths and politics that have dominated the feeds.
Thanks, Heather. Great advice on pacing, though I have to admit my eyes glaze over when I see a pet video on Facebook. I agree that we need to give readers a breather now and then, but, as Lisa Cron says in Story Genius about subplots, it’s also key to remember that these breaks in the action have to tie to the story and not break with the story logic. See you soon in Salem.
Great tips, Heather, and I’ll admit I love the videos of cute babies doing all kinds of cute-baby stuff. I never thought of analyzing them for writing tips, and now I don’t have to. :-)
I think the short scenes and quick pacing works for many genres, but there are some stories that need a more leisurely pace. I’m listening to Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool and cannot imagine the story told in quick bursts.