Friday, January 2, 2009

... segue to segues

One thing I didn't do while doing the revision was completing all the segues, the inter-chapter mini-sections which tell things from the point of view of a mini-character observing a minor character (there are some exceptions, where segues are told from sub-principal characters!) in order to flesh out plot elements which would otherwise be completely hidden from the reader (since we're tied to the observations of the principals).

They're not easy, because they have to...
  • Be told in around 300 - 1000 words.
  • Involve a snippet of story that isn't involved in the plot-flow around it.
  • Deal with and rely on characters the reader may never have met (and will never).
  • Still need to fit in with the framework and tone of the chapters around it.
  • Actually provide some relivant information.

So even though they're short, writing the segues was just as hard as writing chapters. Crazy!

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