Do you ever avoid certain story events because they're too much hassle to write?

Kindness · Feb 29, 2012

I find myself doing this a lot lately

I have a scene where my MC sneaks into someone's house. I thought about introducing a humorous complication where the owner's extended family all arrive because it's actually the house-owner's birthday, but I couldn't be bothered to descibe all the hiding and sneaking.

What about you guys?

Buffysquirrel · Mar 1, 2012

With this novel I've just finished writing, I did start to get a bit jaded towards the end. I'd introduce a complication and then think, can't be bothered with this. It didn't help that the protagonist was baulking cos he didn't like the end of his story. So yes, it can happen.

But is it too much hassle or do you just feel you don't have the skill to pull it off? It's easy to be intimidated if you envisage a gap between the scene you want to write and your ability to pull it off.

Whenever I get intimidated by a scene--usually one with a lot of characters--my beta sits me down and tells me to focus on the viewpoint character. I don't have to write *everyone* in the scene.

If you work out why the scene intimidates you, then you can start to develop strategies to get round the problem.

Anne Lyle · Mar 1, 2012

I tend to avoid travel scenes because I find them tedious to read (I make an exception for Tolkien, though, because he's just so good at it).

Sometimes it's unavoidable, so I try and focus on interesting events on the journey and keep the actual travel parts to a minimum. As with most writing issues, less is often more - pick out a few key details and summarise the rest in a few sentences.

LadyA · Mar 1, 2012

There are a couple of story ideas that I've got in the back of my mind, but will not even think of planning properly and actually writing until I feel I can do them justice.

JustJas · Mar 1, 2012

I hate writing sex scenes and don't write them until I've finished the rest of the manuscript....I always imagine people I know reading them and that just makes me even more embarassed. It's a bit of a liability when you write romance, but what can you do when most romances call for at least one sex scene these days? :Shrug:

Stijn Hommes · Mar 1, 2012

That's why I don't write romance.

Cathy C · Mar 1, 2012

Sure, but that realization normally flicks the light bulb that I'm not looking at the scene properly. It only takes one good laugh line to make the scene, so take the funniest thing you wanted to happen and make your MC suitably bedraggled by the time he gets to it. End one scene with him getting the brilliant idea to do it, then start the next scene long minutes later, his hair matted with sweat, shredded clothes, covered with flour and smelling of fish tank--that last event can be painted with an amazingly timed comic brush (by showing the state of disrepair, of course, not just telling us.)

Buffysquirrel · Mar 1, 2012

Is there no longer such a thing as sweet romance?

I used to write sex scenes in my novels but mostly they're a distraction. If I write them now they tend to be a bit blunt and to the point.

Bubastes · Mar 1, 2012

Buffysquirrel said:
Is there no longer such a thing as sweet romance?

I used to write sex scenes in my novels but mostly they're a distraction. If I write them now they tend to be a bit blunt and to the point.

I've had no trouble finding sweet and warm romances to read, so apparently there's still a market for them.

I'm the same way about writing sex scenes. These days my sex scenes are one or two paragraphs long at the most. It fits my storytelling style better.

Phaeal · Mar 1, 2012

If the scene in question isn't that important, it's all right to summarize it. But if it carries significant narrative weight -- critical action, big emotional moments -- you have to write it however hard it may be. Otherwise the reader will feel cheated: Huh? We're going from the night before the humongous battle to the aftermath and all my favorite characters dead?

You never want the reader to feel she's missing some pages.

ChaosTitan · Mar 1, 2012

Buffysquirrel said:
Is there no longer such a thing as sweet romance?

Sure there are. Every romance novel doesn't require sex; it depends on what sort of romance novel you're writing. Getting a romance right requires more than just the ability to write a good sex scene.

Phaeal said:
If the scene in question isn't that important, it's all right to summarize it. But if it carries significant narrative weight -- critical action, big emotional moments -- you have to write it however hard it may be. Otherwise the reader will feel cheated: Huh? We're going from the night before the humongous battle to the aftermath and all my favorite characters dead?

You never want the reader to feel she's missing some pages.

This.

In some ways, it goes back to what you want to show, versus things you can tell. Sometimes it's better to simply say "the home owners arrived just as I was making my escape and I managed to avoid them," as a summation of events, rather than write an entire 2k word scene.

Don't avoid a necessary scene simply because you think it might be hard to write. But if it isn't necessary to the story and/or character development, skip away.

Jamesaritchie · Mar 1, 2012

I don't think of any one kind of scene as being more of a hassle than any other. A scene is a scene, and if it works with the story, I write it. What kind of scene it is, and what goes into it, makes no difference. Words are words, and I have to write using words, so why worry about any scene being a hassle?

Orchestra · Mar 1, 2012

Not everything needs to be a scene. Sometimes it's best to speed up the narrative and glance over years worth of events in a few words, other times you slow way down to catch individual actions, impressions and bits of dialogue. Books that are stuck on a single narrative gear can feel monotone. Scenes are a useful tool but they are not the be-all, end-all of fiction writing.

Kube · Mar 1, 2012

I know it's not exactly what you're talking about, but there was a scene that was going to be exceedingly painful for my MC. Since to a certain extent, I become my MC, it was also going to be somewhat painful for me to write. I put off writing it for a good couple of weeks because I was dreading it. Finally I got it written and it was pretty good. Although it did require a drink afterward.

kaitie · Mar 1, 2012

I haven't done what you describe because I tend to write the scenes (even if they are pains in the ass) that I feel best suit the story. On the other hand, you should have seen me complaining to a friend the other day about a scene I'm working on that has five people talking at once and was giving me heck. I tried to find a way to take out a character or two, but realized it doesn't work to do that, so I started rewriting it and just focusing on finding ways to divide up the dialogue more, and that's worked much better.

As for having stories I won't write because they're a pain, I do have a couple of those. I've had a sci-fi story idea, but I can't imagine really writing it because I'm not that big a fan of sci-fi, and the research and everything to go into it would be more trouble than I really think it's worth. I have enough other ideas at the moment that would be more fun.

Mharvey · Mar 1, 2012

Whenever I write a scene, I do my best to live up to the Donald Maass quote. "Tension on every page." If I can't inject tension/passion into a particular scene, I try my damnedest to figure out how to lose the scene.

I'd say though, if you can't get a little amped up about your MC sneaking around somewhere he's not supposed to be, try to figure out why. Is your MC doing something that, in the back of your mind, you feel is redundant and you just wanna get it over with? If so, that's a problem - if you're bored, the reader will be. Cliche, but true.

Midian · Mar 1, 2012

I find that if I'm looking at a scene as too much hassle to write, I'm just not in the right place to write it. So I resort to writing simple declarative sentences to remind me when I go for 2nd draft work what's supposed to be there. By the time I'm finished with the first draft, I might find that I don't need it anyway so I can toss it or sum it up.

I don't ever force myself to write pretty or feel a bit of genius if I don't have it in me that day or for that scene. Some days are entirely dialog because I know what that scene is supposed to say or do but I don't feel like doing the whole narrative. Some days are just simple sentences. Some days are just so bad-ass that I can't believe that I've yet to finish my wip and that I'm not published <----I really like these days and wish I had more of them! Most days I only feel confident enough to just keep writing and hope that someone out there might think I should just keep writing too.

So yeah, sometimes a scene is too much hassle. I place-holder it when that happens and then see where it stands later.

elindsen · Mar 1, 2012

if the scene may seem like a hassle then just summarize it. But if it is important suck it up and deal with it so the reader can enjoy

Kindness · Mar 1, 2012

Buffysquirrel said:
But is it too much hassle or do you just feel you don't have the skill to pull it off? It's easy to be intimidated if you envisage a gap between the scene you want to write and your ability to pull it off.

Whenever I get intimidated by a scene--usually one with a lot of characters--my beta sits me down and tells me to focus on the viewpoint character. I don't have to write *everyone* in the scene.

If you work out why the scene intimidates you, then you can start to develop strategies to get round the problem.

Good point! Now that I think about it, there are a lot of scenes I never wrote because they intimidated me. Sometimes I have trouble with describing intense action or lots of things going on at the same, and if I don't think I can describe an event well then I do something easier.

It's actually quite funny, because writing is probably the only medium where you can pull off anything you can imagine (you don't have a special effect budget, for example xD).

Kindness · Mar 1, 2012

Jamesaritchie said:
I don't think of any one kind of scene as being more of a hassle than any other. A scene is a scene, and if it works with the story, I write it. What kind of scene it is, and what goes into it, makes no difference. Words are words, and I have to write using words, so why worry about any scene being a hassle?

I used to see it that way, but it took me a while to notice that writing is more than just making a list of what you see in your mind's eye. It can be hard to capture the right mood/tone/pace of the 'movie' in your head by simply describing whats going on. You have to set all these things up to evoke the exact same feelings that your Brain Movie (lol) makes you experience, so it can be a bit hard to stop a scene from falling short of what you imagined xD

I suppose it will get easier with time and practise, though

HoneyBadger · Mar 1, 2012

Kube said:
I know it's not exactly what you're talking about, but there was a scene that was going to be exceedingly painful for my MC. Since to a certain extent, I become my MC, it was also going to be somewhat painful for me to write. I put off writing it for a good couple of weeks because I was dreading it. Finally I got it written and it was pretty good. Although it did require a drink afterward.

I'm struggling with this right this instant. On one hand, I think it's probably good that I feel like I'm going to puke while writing some really emotional stuff, but on the other hand, I don't particularly like feeling all sick and punched, so I'll be really glad to not have to write this chapter anymore.

Blech.

flapperphilosopher · Mar 1, 2012

Not really-- if I find there's a scene I seriously don't want to write, I assess if it's the right scene at all, and usually it's not. There are some scenes I know are going to be emotionally difficult because of the content, and I might not write that scene on a day I'm feeling on top of the world, but if it's important I do want to write it, even if I feel like hell afterwards. For me personally, if I don't want to write it, it's probably the scene, not me.

MoLoLu · Mar 1, 2012

Had one of these today: Running through a zoo in the middle of the night.

I've been to a zoo before but I've no idea how to do the feeling justice. It's summarized at the moment but I'll come back once I know how to flesh it out.

Same thing happens to me every second scene.

For me it's a matter of perspective. Once things are on paper, even in summary, they get easier to fill in. With a blank page I always cringe when things get difficult or my 'mental image' isn't crisp and clear. Once I know what's happening, evoking whatever image I'm aiming for is a lot easier.

EzzyAlpha · Mar 1, 2012

(Kindness has a One Piece avatar and that makes me happy)

I never put off writing a scene but certain scenes do make me feel like it. Like domestic abuse or cheating scenes. It's uncomfortable.

BethS · Mar 1, 2012

Beth's rules for sex scenes:

1) They should be like any other scene, essential to the story, with something changing or reversing as a result of it.

2) Don't include the boring, non-essential parts.

Corollary to 2) Descriptions of the mechanics are boring and non-essential.

Do you ever avoid certain story events because they're too much hassle to write?

Back From My Self-Imposed Exile

Fantastic historian

Always lurking, never posting...

Know what you write...

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

bananaed

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

Around

practical experience, GTFO

Fresh Meat For The Grinder

With great power comes

Liker Of Happy Things

My sarcasm got the better of me.

Zombie lovin'

Back From My Self-Imposed Exile

Back From My Self-Imposed Exile

terribly loud, emotionally distant

Unable to write straight females.