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05 May 2009

Cause and Effect / Character Emotion

Recent plot consultation:

Literary Fiction
Many POVs

Question:
Does my story have too many scenes?

Answer:
(We did not get to the end of his story during our session so I cannot answer the question.)
My comment however is to do what you can to make the scenes feel linked.

The tighter the story, the easier for the reader to follow. Every element of every scene contributes to the scene that follows and to the overall story itself.

Link scenes through the use of:
  • Cause and effect
  • The transitions you create using:
Thematic significance of the overall story
Similar themes in the scenes to be linked 
Similar authentic details in scenes to be linked

Also, be clear about the structure you're going for and be consistent. This is especially true for the POV. Each time there is a change in POV, you risk the reader putting down the book. 

We connect to one character and resist and resent leaving that POV. Moving into another can be off-putting. 

Be careful and make sure the first line in every POV switch is compelling in order to pull the reader immediately into the next character and not feel like they are missing the character they were just connected to.