Story Flow

Marty’s Muse

Something to think about …

Mar 2010

Story Flow

Often I’m asked (okay, one person asked me one time) how to make a story flow, how to keep it moving forward. Readability. That’s the key. Make it readable. A reader won’t keep reading—or even start—if it’s not readable.

So, how do you do that, make it readable? Some things to look for and eliminate:

Redundant, intrusive dialogue that does not add to the story or move it along. It’s simple. With each piece of dialogue you write, read it aloud, then ask yourself these questions: Does it sound natural? Does it sound like people talking? Does it make sense? Does it fit (is it appropriate to the storyline?)

Wordiness and run-on sentences disrupt the flow of words, distract the reader and detract from the story. Cut the fat. Trim down adjectives and (especially) adverbs. Strive for strong, evocative verbs. Break long, complex sentences into a series of shorter ones. Shorter sentences lend impact to action scenes and tension to suspenseful moments. On the other hand, too many short, Dick-and-Jane sentences are an equal distraction.

Sexually or racially biased or obscene language – I leave this one to your discretion. If the language is appropriate to the story, use it, but do so with discretion. If you’re writing a non-fiction piece, these elements require closer scrutiny.

Shifts in tense, voice, point of view. Some authors have achieved great success manipulating the “rules” of tense, voice or point of view. Explore outside the norms, but do not go swiftly into that strange land. Remember that misuse or misapplication of standard forms (rules) of grammar, syntax, usage, structure, punctuation can be interpreted as just plain bad writing.

Blatant misuse of punctuation: too little or too much. Writing is communication and communication is about understanding. If you throw around punctuation haphazardly, no one will understand what you mean, and you will not have communicated what you want to communicate.

Loose application of fundamental grammar rules. As with the other elements mentioned here, play with the rules of grammar at your own risk. Learn them first. New or struggling writers especially have to be extra cautious so their works do not appear amateurish and unworthy of appraisal.

Just keep writing!

Marty “Flow-on” Gorsching