Tag: How to write a novel

A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Fast-Paced Action Scenes in Your Novel

How to write action scenes in a novel

This year, all my posts for JPC Allen Writes have been concerned with how to write a novel. I realized last month I should do a deeper dive into scenes–the building blocks of a novel. The first kind of scene I’ll cover is action scenes. I find writing action scenes one of the most difficult and rewarding scenes to write. They’re difficult because all the elements of a story–character, setting, and plot–have to be in correct balance so readers can be carried away with the action, living the scene with the POV character. It ruins the scene if the reader is racing through this exciting passage and trips over something that doesn’t work. So here is a repost of a step-by-step guide to writing fast-paced action scenes in your novel.

Analysis of an Action Scene

When I write an action scene, I want to plant my readers firmly in the head of my protagonist, Rae Riley. Here’s how I wrote the beginning of an action scene from my first YA mystery A Shadow on the Snow:

At the sidewalk, I glanced up the hill. And dropped the bags.

  • Rae commits an action that immediately tells readers something surprising or shocking has occurred.

A figure, backlit by the streetlamp, stood at the corner.  

  • Readers learn what has shocked Rae. Explanation is short because action scenes should read fast to build excitement. 

Spinning, I fell to my knees. I snagged the bags and, stumbling across the lot, reached the guardrail at the opposite side. 

  • I use specific verbs and nouns so readers can imagine what Rae is doing and where she is. 

I scrambled over it and fell five feet down the retaining wall into the little yard behind an empty building. Panting, I raised myself into hunched stance and ran, scrambling over snow-encrusted chunks of crumbling asphalt.More specific verbs and nouns to make scene vivid.

  • More specific verbs and nouns to make scene vivid.

Please, Father. It can’t end like this.

  • Now readers are inside Rae’s head to know exactly how she is feeling and thinking.  

Behind the deli, I slipped, and the urn rolled out of its bag. I squinted against the flakes. No silhouette. Nobody.  

  • Scene description to orient readers in the setting. Also show what Rae is doing–looking for her pursuer.

I needed to get out on Main Street and head for Mal’s office. I slapped piles of snow until my palm smacked the urn. I shoved it into a bag and ran into the alley beside the deli. A streetlight illuminated the end that came out on Main Street, welcoming me like a lighthouse.

  • The first sentence is a thought. Then action and description to keep the scene moving and readers grounded in it.

Bent under the weight of my backpack, I struggled toward Main Street, gripping and regripping the sagging bags. 

  • “Bent”, “struggled”, and “regripping” convey Rae’s perception of scene. 

A figure ran across the entrance to the alley. 

  • Report of what Rae sees, which orients readers to where MC and pursuer are in the setting.

My throat closed as my feet froze to the icy pavement.  

  • Reaction that reveals Rae’s feelings.

What … what do I do? 

  • Rae’s thought, so readers are living the scene with Rae. 

Wheeling, I fell against the deli’s rough brick wall and glanced back.  

  • More action, keeping it short and to the point.

Here are more tips on writing scenes for novels.

What are the best actions scenes you’ve read? What advice do you have for writing action scenes?

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5 Things Every Author Should Know Before Adding Graphics to a Novel

How to write a novel

All of my novels have graphics, whether it’s a flowchart, a family tree or a map. My publisher had been generous and patient enough to let me add these images. If you’re considering putting similar elements, here are 5 things every author should know before adding graphics to a novel.

Graphics should be an aid.

My mysteries are complicated for a couple of reasons. First, my amateur sleuth Rae Riley belongs to an extensive family on her dad’s side. Her great-grandfather’s five marriages to three women make up a family with as many branches as the Mississippi. And those relationships come into play in some of my novels. So at the front of every novel, I insert family trees so readers can flip to them if they are uncertain of a relationship.

Second, my mysteries throw a lot of clues and red herrings at readers. So it helps if Rae organizes the information she uncovers in tables or flowcharts or Venn diagrams. Those provide a quick reference if readers need a reminder as they follow the clues with Rae.

Graphics can add realism.

Rae Riley Mysteries are told from the first-person point of view of–you guessed it–Rae Riley. To make the reading experience as real for readers as possible, I want them to be so thoroughly in Rae’s head that they feel like they are experiencing the story with her. One way I do that is through graphics.

Rae is an amateur photographer. So it makes sense for her to draw tables or maps to help her understand the clues better. And by reproducing Rae’s work in graphics, it gives readers as sense that they are evaluating the evidence just as Rae would.

In The Riddle in the Lonesome October, the key to a lost inheritance is an Edgar Allan Poe poem. I used a different font when Rae reads the poem. I used another font for sections of a memoir written by a pastor’s wife and that hold clues to the inheritance. In both cases, the different fonts convey the sense that these passages are reproduced from actual books, lending to the fun of the treasure hunt.

Graphics should be crystal clear.

If you decide to insert graphics in your novel, make sure they appear sharp in both the ebook and paperback. A fuzzy graphic looks cheap.

Graphics should be uncluttered.

Don’t add more information or detail than you need. Readers will find graphics more useful if they can glance at them and don’t have to give themselves headaches picking out every detail.

Above all else …

Don’t use graphics as a substitute for storytelling. The information in the map Rae draws is always discussed by the characters. I don’t put anything in a graphic the characters haven’t talked about or Rae hasn’t thought about. The graphics are meant to enhance the story, not take its place.

What do you think of graphics in novels? What are your favorites? Maps, family trees, or something else?

Here are all my writing tips and prompts for the month.

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How to Build Scene Tension in Any Novel

How to write scenes in a novel

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the only thing that keeps readers turning page after page of a novel is tension. Tension must be relieved eventually, and the only ways readers can relieve it is to keep reading or close the book. As important as tension is, it’s difficult to teach to new writers. So below are some tips on how to build scene tension in any novel.

Develop characters who add tension.

Creating characters who have conflicting qualities or personalities that don’t mesh is the easiest way to inject tension in a scene. Analyze your cast of characters. Is everyone of them kind, thoughtful, and unselfish? Are they all introverts or extroverts? Are they all neat or slobs? Are they same age or come from the same socio-economic, racial, or ethnic backgrounds? Differences automatically create tension.

If you find that too many of your characters act and talk the same, dig into how to make them different from each other. The mellow mom and her uptight daughter would conflict in certain situations. The outgoing brother and his reserve brother. The friend who’s a rule-follower and the friend who sees rules as suggestions. These characters with opposite qualities are the raw material from which to mine tension.

Develop internal conflict within your protagonists.

Let’s say I’m writing a teen novel. My main character is a seventeen-year-old girl in her senior year of high school. She dreams of going to college, but she takes care of her home and younger siblings since her mom was disabled in a car accident. She doesn’t want to ditch her family, but she doesn’t want to ditch college either.

When a protagonist has two desires that appear mutually exclusive, you have gold for adding tension to your novel.

Develop conflict with the setting.

Any setting or situation that is outside the comfort zone of the protagonist holds a lot of potential for creating tension in a scene. I write about using uncomfortable settings here.

Remember that not all tension is the same.

There’s a major difference in tension between a middle-aged woman losing patience with her elderly mother who keeps chatting with people on a shopping trip, and a cop who is furious at his rule-following superior because he believes the superior is allowing a criminal to escape justice.

Use a variety of tensions to keep readers hooked. I find this easy to do when I write mysteries. Some suspects my amateur sleuth talks to will be happy to share information. Other will be secretive–but is it because they are guilty or is something else going on in their lives? Some suspects will be plain hostile. Those differences in characters create different levels of tension, keeping the storytelling interesting.

Here are more tips on writing with tension.

What are some of the best tense scenes you’ve read?

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How to Write Unforgettable Last Lines for a Novel (And Why It Matters)

How to write the ending of a novel

After spending months or years crafting the novel of your dreams, you don’t want to undo all that hard work with a poor last scene or last lines that vanish from readers’ memories. These final components of your novel are just as important as your opening lines and chapter. So here’s how to write unforgettable last lines for a novel and why it matters.

Why do the last lines matter so much?

The last scene and lines of your novel are your last message to your readers. We writers want our stories to stick with our readers. We gift them these final parts of the novel as a reward for reaching the last page. The last lines should also encourage readers to look up our previous novels and look forward to our future ones.

3 tips for writing unforgettable last lines

Your final scene and lines are like the final arguments lawyers present to a jury. They can’t introduce new evidence. That part of the trial is over. They can only sum up what the jury has already heard, but they can put their own spin on that evidence. That’s what writers do in the last scene.

  1. Echo the major plot, relationship, or theme you set up earlier in the book. The final scene must deal with the point or purpose of the novel. All subplots should have been wrapped up by now. The final scene and lines should round off and amplify what your novel has been about. In my second novel, A Storm of Doubts, Rae wrestles with doubts that she may be calling the wrong man Dad as she tries to solve a mystery that involves questions of paternity concerning a family friend. The final scene and lines wrap up this theme of fathers and family.
  2. Set the mood you want to leave with your readers. When readers close your book, what mood do you want to linger with them? I want my readers to feel like they’ve had a satisfying meal, and the last lines are those last bites of an excellent desert. To give them this feeling, I end on an upbeat note that fits with solving a mystery that revolves around the strength of faith and family. This upbeat note must be earned and make sense with the story that’s preceded it. If my amateur sleuth’s best friend has betrayed her during the course of the mystery, then my upbeat note will be very different from the one I’d use if her friend has saved her life during the climax.
  3. Use final lines that let readers think over the novel. If your final lines do a great job of summing up your novel, it should give reader points that linger in their mind. In A Storm of Doubts, the final lines will make readers consider the nature of fatherhood, aspects like what makes a good father.

What’s your opinion on what makes unforgettable last lines for a novel?

Here are all the tips and prompts this month on writing endings for novels.

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How to Write Your Novel Resolution Right

How to write a great ending for a novel

Denouement or wrap-up is another critical component of the ending to any novel. These are the scenes following the climax, in which you resolve all the remaining loose ends of the plot. Below are my tips on how to write your novel resolution right.

Why is the denouement so critical?

This resolution part of your novel is another reward for your readers. The intensity of the climax and how well you pull it off is the first one. Once readers have enjoyed that, they get the extra treat of sitting back and enjoying how you resolve the other plot points that have contributed to the novel.

Pacing is the key element of the resolution

You don’t want a resolution that’s too fast or too slow. If you resolve the loose ends too quickly, readers will close the book dissatisfied because they didn’t get enough time to enjoy saying good-bye to the characters and the story. If you’re too slow, your resolution will come across like a houseguest who won’t take hints from the host that it’s time to leave.

How to write the correct pacing for the resolution

First, reread your manuscript and make sure you’ve caught all the plot points and loose ends of your novel.

Second vary how you tie up your loose ends. Since I write mysteries, readers expect a detailed resolution of all the plot points. So I tie up those points in various ways. A few I resolve before the climax, if it doesn’t hurt the intensity of it. For example, my amateur sleuth discovers one of the suspects has an iron-clad alibi before the climax, taking that character out of contention as the culprit. After the climax, I decide how much page space I should devote to a loose end depending on its importance. For example, if my teen sleuth and her dad have been at odds throughout the whole novel, then the resolution of their conflict should have a lot of space. But if the loose end is who moved the murder weapon after the murder, and it turns out the maid did because she did’t realize it was the the murder weapon at the time, then that resolution only needs a brief conversation.

Third, have someone who enjoys reading and understands your genre read your manuscript. I guarantee you will have overlooked at least one minor point that needs wrapped up. An author is so familiar with her manuscript that it’s easy to miss a loose end.

Fourth, you should also ask this reader about the pacing. If he or she feels the resolution is rushed or dragging, review your resolution to discover if you can add depth or tighten your writing.

What novels have you read which have a perfectly paced resolution?

Just wanted to let you know there won’t be a tip next week but I’ll be back two weeks from today.

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