Thread: Transitions, Beginnings, Boring Stuff

I'm beginning to think that the main reason why I can never finish anything I write is because I just can't write what I consider to be very simple aspects of the story. I'm horrible at beginning a story, for one. I can never figure it out. Do I start simple? Do I start with a flash back? Do I start right in the middle of some action? Which is cliche, and which is going to say that my writing is different? I really don't write to please anyone else, just myself. The problem is, I'm actually a harsh critic on my own writing :/

Another thing I just cannot do is transitions or boring in between sections. Something big happens, and I know there has to be a gap between the first Big Something and the next Big Something, but I just don't have a clue what to fill it with. What if my characters have absolutely nothing to say to move things forward? What if the only thing that happens between those two Big Somethings would be totally pointless stuff? Should there be 'boring' or 'resting' points?

There's a story I'm dying to complete, or at least advance in, and I have no clue how to move forward because I've been hung up on little spot.

I'm not sure there is 'pointless stuff' in stories.. everything should have a purpose. I think the trouble you're having is that the drama of the piece shouldn't be the only highlight in the piece. The 'in between sections' can serve other ways. Usually in character development, creating plot hooks, describing scenes, back stories, hinting at future events.. you know, 'setting the stage' for the reader.

Originally Posted by Caitlinflavurd

Another thing I just cannot do is transitions or boring in between sections. Something big happens, and I know there has to be a gap between the first Big Something and the next Big Something, but I just don't have a clue what to fill it with. What if my characters have absolutely nothing to say to move things forward? What if the only thing that happens between those two Big Somethings would be totally pointless stuff? Should there be 'boring' or 'resting' points?

I think you raise some terrific questions. A general rule I try to follow is: skip the boring stuff. Or at least give it as little time as necessary. We don't have to include anything we don't want to. In fact if we write only want we want to write maybe that feeling will pass on to the reader and they'll read only what they want to read. I've relegated whole months of a story to a handful of sentences because they were very uneventful months.

To use Harry Potter as an example, Rowling would often have like a page on the general Hogwarts life and times before she got to real-time action, like a tense potions class.

As for "should there be rest points", that probably depends on the pacing you're going for. Thrillers and action are usually intense all the way through, but there are also scenes where people talk and relax safe from danger. It's probably a good idea to break up the tension with calmer scenes. As for how you start, this may be cliched advice but starting however you want to start is a good idea. If it feels right starting with a flashback, it is right! If it feels right starting with the end. . . well, that has been pulled off to arguable success.

Originally Posted by Caitlinflavurd

I'm beginning to think that the main reason why I can never finish anything I write is because I just can't write what I consider to be very simple aspects of the story. I'm horrible at beginning a story, for one. I can never figure it out. Do I start simple? Do I start with a flash back? Do I start right in the middle of some action? Which is cliche, and which is going to say that my writing is different? I really don't write to please anyone else, just myself. The problem is, I'm actually a harsh critic on my own writing :/

Another thing I just cannot do is transitions or boring in between sections. Something big happens, and I know there has to be a gap between the first Big Something and the next Big Something, but I just don't have a clue what to fill it with. What if my characters have absolutely nothing to say to move things forward? What if the only thing that happens between those two Big Somethings would be totally pointless stuff? Should there be 'boring' or 'resting' points?

There's a story I'm dying to complete, or at least advance in, and I have no clue how to move forward because I've been hung up on little spot.

I guess it depends on your genre. There are some which are suited to character-building and thought-provoking prose. Some people might call them 'boring', but these are the novels that nothing really happens in and yet are still among the best-loved literary masterpieces out there. Personally, though, I detest a book which rambles on for pages about nothing at all. I put it down and pick something else up. But that's me, and I don't write or read mainstream fiction.

My mantra is this: You should never bore your reader. Not on page 1, page 91, or page 501. I'm a firm believer that there's no such thing as 'filler' and it was invented by authors on deadlines who couldn't produce their best and wanted a fast way of filling up the manuscript. Everything must be relevant, and if it isn't you're doing a disservice to your reader, in my opinion.

How should you start? Again, depends on your genre. I write thrillers, so I start in the middle of the action and get the reader engaged from the get-go. You may write horror, or sci-fi, but I don't think there's much difference there. Chapter one is the most important chapter you will write. It still needs something engaging that will grab and reader and make sure s/he reads on to chapter two.

'Resting points' -- don't confuse this with the aforementioned and pejorative 'filler'. A resting point is a chapter immediately after one filled with an intense scene or all-out action. It's used to let the reader draw breath. The way I usually work it is this: My action-filled chapters will be short and sweet. Fast and hard. Then, the 'resting' chapter will meander for a little bit. Just long enough for the reader to recover from the intensity of the previous chapter. Then, bang! I'll hit them again at the end of it. I always use cliffhangers -- every chapter. You want to keep the reader turning the page and ignoring their family/friends/significant other. That's when you know you've written a barnstormer.

One last point: There doesn't have to be a gap between one big moment and the next. Sometimes, when I'm on a roll towards the middle or end of a novel, I might have eight or nine simultaneous chapters which are really intense. That, for me, is building to a crescendo. It puts the reader on tenterhooks so that when the moment comes where I kill-off a main character or do something that has an emotional impact on their reading experience, the comedown makes them poignant and sad.

Originally Posted by Sam W

...where I kill-off a main character or do something that has an emotional impact on their reading experience, the comedown makes them poignant and sad.

Off-topic, but:

I remember a friend reading a book during class one day (high school). The teacher caught him and asked him to put it away. The friend replied with "But he's just about to die!". The teacher paused a moment, nodded his head before carrying on with the lesson. My friend calmly finished the chapter, put his book away and turned his attention back to the class.

I always get a kick out of the memory. Must have been a good book.

Well, you’re half-way there if you recognize that what you’re writing might be boring. Some folks never make it that far.

What are you writing? A novel -- a short story? Consider posting something. Even if it's just one example of the transitions with which you're struggling. It’s pretty hard to know exactly what your trying to do based on the OP, and the best you’re going to get is rather generic advice. Otherwise, I agree – definitely leave out the boring parts.

There's also a difference in pace with reading compared to writing. You may feel like the transitions periods are taking a long time, but when reading them, a person can flow over the areas quite quickly. Mind... some books have lulls in activity that last a quarter (or more) of the book.

The boring stuff is necessary, guys. If you try to write a story straight-up without any sort of filler, it'll go something like, "This happened, then oh my effing THIS happened and then THIS!" The name of the game is pacing. You have to spread out your moments to increase their value so that a reader isn't overwhelmed by one moment, and then numbed to the next big thing when it comes flying in two pages later.

You have to take breaks. Unlike people in TV shows, characters in books have to take bathroom breaks. They have to do laundry. The whole point of the book is immersion, yes? So what, then, is the point if the book is all story and drive and no substance?

That being said, boring filler is still boring and I can't say I have any good tricks up my sleeve besides just keeping the focus on characters. If you write more genre (read: sci-fi) stuff you could- should- spend more time trying to fill out the world you're writing in, but for the most part, sticking with the characters and developing them is the best thing to do. Every tale has two parts- plot and character. If you drive your way through it, you will do so at your characters' losses.

Originally Posted by Vertigo

... I can't say I have any good tricks up my sleeve besides just keeping the focus on characters.

The trick here is to include a few subplots. You may have the hero rushing off to defeat the dragon and rescue the princess from the tallest tower in the castle, but you can have all manner of minor things happen in the mean time. Things that aren't really related to the main plot hooks. These also help to give your characters depth, which is important if you want your readers to feel for them.

Have a couple of the background characters make bets over something, and one lose out too often. A challenge over which character has the sharpest sword, or who killed the most orcs in the last battle. A horse that tries to knock its rider off by walking under low branches. A passing runaway slave begs for sanctuary until they reach the next town, yet steals the sharpest sword as she leaves; the challenge starts again.

You cant make the events action-packed exciting all the time, so make them interesting to the reader for other reasons.

Thanks a ton for the advice everyone. I don't know why I didn't really realize it before, but now that I've read what everyone said, and thought back on the books I read before, the mundane parts probably didn't seem mundane to me because it was all development or back story or something along those lines. So either I lose myself easily in stories, or the writers did a fantastic job at masking the fact that the 'mundane' stuff, really wasn't mundane at all.

Next time I come across an issue in something I'm writing, I'll post what I'm writing along with the issue, or explain it better. I know just asking a vague question can only get vague responses, and I know that it is sometimes dependent on genre and the like. But with the collective advice, and some re-reading of my own stuff, I'm thinking I've got a few different things I need to do, possibly even changing the direction of the story, because frankly it's sounding too similar to other things I've read, in my opinion.

Thanks again

A few things:

• Boring stuff doesn't need to be boring. Brainstorm for original and interesting ways to convey the information. Let's say your protagonist is going about his boring everyday life, having your antagonist spy on him doing it would be much more interesting than just flat out stating it. Never lose that imagination, that's the key.
• Action =/= interesting. It may seem awesome to send a million troops into action in your prologue, and have them shoot another million troops up with M16s, but it's all about how you convey it. Tension and suspense are the real tools of the trade here.
• If all else fails, you can spice up those boring scenes with humour. As Vertigo said, focus on the characters. Use them as an opportunity for light hearted banter which reveals more about themselves.

The main thing to remember is, never lose your imagination. There are always ways. =)

Originally Posted by Vertigo

The boring stuff is necessary, guys.

Not necessarily. When you're book-shopping next, see if you can get your hands on a Matthew Reilly novel. He packs more action and suspense into one chapter than most people do into an entire novel. It's relentless, and because it's relentless that's what makes it unputdownable.

Before I ever heard tell of him, I was writing and reading thriller novels by the greats like Ludlum, Clancy, and Forsyth. But the one thing I kept coming across in their novels was places were the story started to lull. There were pages of information that, while necessary to the plot, were just flat-out boring. I promised myself when I started writing that my novels would reflect what I wanted to read most -- action, suspense, and bucket-loads of entertainment.

I'm sorry, but boring is boring -- whether it's filler or not. There are ways, as Fiachra said, of making even the most mundane task sound entertaining. That's what being a great writer is all about. It's not about filling in parts of your novel so you can get to the next big scene, or piling chapters of information to add to word-count. It's about entertaining a reader, and boring just doesn't do that for me. But maybe I'm biased because my genre lends itself to non-boring scenes.

It's about entertaining a reader, and boring just doesn't do that for me. But maybe I'm biased because my genre lends itself to non-boring scenes.

It is not so much a question of genre as reader, for a reader who likes bucolic English countryside of the late nineteenth century "Larkrise to Candleford" would be a wonderful book that would hold them, your choice might well be "One of those daft action thrillers with people jumping about all over the place". What is important is that it is well written, by that I mean it "flows" and "sounds natural"; that it "works". All very imprecise descriptions, I know, but I find that I know when I have it right, it is when it is just a little bit wrong it is hard to spot, but get it right and there is someone, somewhere who wants to read it, no matter what it is about.

I agree with Olly that there really isn't any boring stuff if it works, it flows, and it tells us something more about the character, place or plot. The idea of filler as fluff seems silly to me - if it's fluff, it doesn't need to be there; if it's filler, it needs to tell me something to help drive the story.
Sometimes it seems like we're obsessed with writing to the extreme - novels topping 1000s of pages, or stories so short they're better meant for a twitter post. A story should only be as long as it has to be to tell itself. If it doesn't need a lot of filler, then don't try to force it in. If you're simply looking for content to take up space, maybe it's not such a good plot, or maybe it's not enough of a plot.
One technique I tend to enjoy when I get stuck and I'm not sure where to go is something I learned from reading Stephen King - try picking up the storyline from a different character's point-of-view. For instance, what does the dog think about this situation? does the neighbor know? what does the creepy man on the bench see, how much does he know? And the character doesn't necessarily have to be one of major importance.
Just some thoughts...

The trick here is to include a few subplots. You may have the hero rushing off to defeat the dragon and rescue the princess from the tallest tower in the castle, but you can have all manner of minor things happen in the mean time. Things that aren't really related to the main plot hooks. These also help to give your characters depth, which is important if you want your readers to feel for them.

Thanks KrisMunroe for this bit of advice as well - I think we all get immersed in one particular line of a story and find it hard to see anything else...expand on characters, add characters, add interest in turmoil and strife, in new beginnings and sudden changes, or unexpected events...