Writer's Tricks of the Trade - Making a choice - Part II - Las Vegas Writing

The choices you make direct the story

Making a choice - Part II examines using deams and delays to enhance the story, relate backstory or slow down the ability of the protagonist or another character to achieve their goal. In Part I we explored making the choice between first person and third, and other alternates.Part I received many comments by posts in groups and by e-mail.

To share your thoughts and comments with all my readers, I invite you to use the comment box at the end of this article.

Using dreams to add dimension
Dream sequences can convey the character’s innermost emotions, unencumbered by daily reality. Fears, expectations, unrealistic goals and realistic ambitions, even premonitions of what is to come, all are possible under the cloak of dreams.

Several techniques may be used in writing these sequences. You can mimic what happens in real dreams by including out-of-sync scenarios, bizarre situations and anything that helps the story move along in a surreal manner, but the author must make them feel like dreams, not simple narrative.

For example, the protagonist in "Devil's Dance" and "The Devil's Due," a set of romantic suspense novels in the new Twist of Fate series to be released in August and September, is plagued by nightmares that almost destroy her. Beginning with the first book and continuing in The Devil’s Due, every incident reveals a little more of what happened to cause her struggle to regain herself. These horrible dreams might be triggered by something she saw, touched or even smelled. The dreams result in her suppressed memories breaking free from the mental cage that surrounds them. This device thrusts the reader into Jen Connor’s ongoing torment and allows them to understand what she is going through. Even though she tries to deal with what happened to her, most of the details have been trapped in her subconscious, as illustrated in the bold sequence below:

She brushed my hair back from my face. An annoying litany of sounds from a mockingbird in the tree outside my window broke the silence that hung between us. “No, child, I told you. You can trust me. Your secrets are safe with me. Now you get undressed and crawl under those covers and try to get some sleep.”
<<<>>>
The fat old man sat behind the reception desk. He leered at me as he ran his tongue around the outer edge of his lower lip, rubbing his fat manicured hands together. “We're going to be very good friends, my dear,” he said, his voice charged with passion. A bit of saliva dribbled from the corner of his mouth. I approached the desk, wearing the red merry widow and the red tutu. In my hand, I carried a ballet bag dripping with blood.

As effective as dreams can be, there is a caveat. Sequences should not be overused unless they are an ongoing element in the character’s life. In this case Jen can have several, because no matter how hard she tries to conquer them, the nightmares haunt her. In some ways they dictate events in her life.This device draws the reader into Jen’s inner fears and desires and allows them to identify with her.

Using delay tactics to leave the reader wanting more
Delay tactics are great for heightening tension. Although it’s a little trickier in a book written in first person than one with multiple points of view, there are proven techniques in both cases.

Multiple POVs allow the author to end a chapter with a cliffhanger, then switch the next chapter to one of the other characters who can fill in some of the blanks, thereby keeping the tension alive. However, when you only have one POV, ending a chapter on a cliff hanger can still work to delay the solution…to pose the questions: will it? won’t it? The trick is to hold the tension by not starting the next chapter with the solution.

At this point it’s important to be very careful not to upset the reader when they don’t get the answer they expected. Consider using your character’s recollection of something that happened in the past, or might happen as a result of their decision. Use that memory to show why a decision or action is so difficult. Perhaps it foreshadows a significant event or will result in disaster. That way, you’ve kept the reader turning the pages, while giving a little more depth to why the solution or dilemma is so significant, but haven’t handed resolution to them on a silver platter.

NEXT WEEK we’ll be talking about using imagination and secondary characters.

Regular columns

Every Tuesday: Spotlight - In depth interviews with authors, publishers, organizations and highlights of upcoming events. This week's Spotlight - Author Dorothy Howell. If you are in Las Vegas,Dorothy will appear at Barnes & Noble on August 7 and is the featured speaker at Sisters in Crime Southern Nevada on August 8.

Every Thursday: Writers: Tricks of the trade features tips, techniques and tricks.

Watch for special weekday columns – news or special interest items as they happen. Yesterday's column recapped some earlier Spotlights for those who haven't read them. Click here for A complete listing of past columns.

Recent Tricks of the Trade: Hooray, An Agent Wants Me-Part I; Crafting Twists and Dropping Clues - Part I; Part II ; Making Cardboard Scenes Spring to LifeI