http://www.superheronation.com/2008/07/14/writing-tip-of-the-day-avoid-looking-backwards/ How to write a graphic novel, comic book or superhero novel and get it published Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:03:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.superheronation.com/2008/07/14/writing-tip-of-the-day-avoid-looking-backwards/#comment-9086 Cadet Davis Sun, 05 Oct 2008 04:15:09 +0000 http://www.superheronation.com/?p=925#comment-9086 I hate to say never. Musing is sometimes dramatically or comedically effective. For example, one of Soon I Will Be Invincible's best lines was a musing. The villain has pulled his first heist and he has a dilemma. He can either turn himself in and get out of prison after a year or two, or he can move forward as a supervillain and throw everything away that he's ever known. He explains why he demurs with a few lines of musing. "If you’re different, you always know it, and you can’t fix it even if you want to.” <br /> Effective musing tends to be very short. Readers won't mind that the story isn't progressing very quickly if the pause is brief. Unfortunately, musing tends to create pauses that are so long that readers get disconnected from the plot. So, how long is too long? I suspect that the reader's attention span will be affected by several factors: readers will probably grant you more leeway if the scene is funny, if the story is marketed as deep or introspective rather than action-packed or exhilarating, if the characters are interesting, and/or if your observations are insightful. It's hard to give a rule of thumb for an issue with so many variables, but I'd be very careful about going beyond 2-3 pages (500-750 words). At that point, the reader will probably notice if the scene is dragging. In contrast, readers will probably slip past a momentary pause without feeling that the story is moving too slowly. I hate to say never. Musing is sometimes dramatically or comedically effective. For example, one of Soon I Will Be Invincible’s best lines was a musing. The villain has pulled his first heist and he has a dilemma. He can either turn himself in and get out of prison after a year or two, or he can move forward as a supervillain and throw everything away that he’s ever known. He explains why he demurs with a few lines of musing. “If you’re different, you always know it, and you can’t fix it even if you want to.”

Effective musing tends to be very short. Readers won’t mind that the story isn’t progressing very quickly if the pause is brief. Unfortunately, musing tends to create pauses that are so long that readers get disconnected from the plot. So, how long is too long? I suspect that the reader’s attention span will be affected by several factors: readers will probably grant you more leeway if the scene is funny, if the story is marketed as deep or introspective rather than action-packed or exhilarating, if the characters are interesting, and/or if your observations are insightful. It’s hard to give a rule of thumb for an issue with so many variables, but I’d be very careful about going beyond 2-3 pages (500-750 words). At that point, the reader will probably notice if the scene is dragging. In contrast, readers will probably slip past a momentary pause without feeling that the story is moving too slowly.

]]> http://www.superheronation.com/2008/07/14/writing-tip-of-the-day-avoid-looking-backwards/#comment-9079 Brett Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:26:42 +0000 http://www.superheronation.com/?p=925#comment-9079 Can musing ever work? For example, I intended to have Alex at one point go into a depressive phase when he spends a great amount of time thinking about his failure with Amorelia. At the same time however, he's constantly dealing with new threats. I'm not going to overdo it (I think Alex will never muse for more than a page at once, and never ever a full chapter), but I think his brooding says something about his psyche. Can musing ever work? For example, I intended to have Alex at one point go into a depressive phase when he spends a great amount of time thinking about his failure with Amorelia. At the same time however, he’s constantly dealing with new threats. I’m not going to overdo it (I think Alex will never muse for more than a page at once, and never ever a full chapter), but I think his brooding says something about his psyche.

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