I am such an annoying reader. If authors monitored my brain while I was reading their works, they might very experience true rage. I get frustrated when nothing's happening, and yet I can't bear reading extending action sequences. I am drawn toward immersive works, but I hate things that don't have a clear focus or dwell on peripheral elements purely for the sake of richness. I think writing in dialect is pretentious and distracting, but I demand authenticity. Whew.
I hope nobody reads my stuff like I read theirs.
There's a sobering thought.
.Nevets.
Actually, I tend toward the same habits. Enriching details are good things, but rabbit trails leading off into odd side stories that take the main story nowhere are downright annoying.
ReplyDeleteAnd dialect? That's when the saying, "A little goes a long way," comes into effect.
My brother and I had a phone conversation several weeks ago on the topic of action scenes (in movies or books), and we agreed that -- in reality -- most fights are over pretty quickly. Yeah, a lot may happen in those thirty seconds, but it was still only thirty seconds. We don't need seven pages' worth of detail. (I work with kids; they may report that a fistfight/shirt-pulling/wrestling match took fifteen minutes, when in truth the loser was tossed to the ground in fifteen seconds, or a staffperson broke up the encounter mere moments after it began. Time is relative.)
There comes a point when the long, drawn-out action sequence becomes not tense but laughable.
I've tried to summarize most action scenes rather that write them in detail. Mostly because I know I'll miss something, but also because like Keanan said, each fight is over in perhaps 30 seconds.
ReplyDeleteHuge battle scenes, as are common in epic fantasy, are an entirely different animal though.
Glad I'm in good company with some of my hangups.
ReplyDeleteKeanan, you're dead on with how quick most fights are. I try to reflect that in my own writing. Ludlum and Louis L'Amour taught me well. Throw a few punches, break something, kick or choke somebody, and count one of the guys out.
And, Matthew, epic battle scenes are one reason that I can't get through some fantasy. Epic long spell casting sessions are another.