Thursday, December 19, 2019

Just Press Pause

Posted by: Maureen
By Maureen Bonatch


My clock in my office 

The last year has left me feeling as if I’ve been living my life in fast forward. There have been many changes in my life, and that of my family, that have resulted in the months flying by. The swiftness of passing time has often left me fatigued from trying to keep up, although It’s struck me that as a reader this pace is something I enjoy in a book, and as a writer, it’s something I’ve strived to achieve.

Fast Forward


Start with the action. That’s the advice often given to writers, and what I look for as a reader. I don’t want to be weighted down with a lot of backstory before I even get invested in the character. As a writer, it can be challenging to achieve since I know these characters, and I want you to know them as I do and either love and hate them the same. Thus it tempts me to share all those little idiosyncrasies that make up their character right from the get go, and to tell you their whole backstory so you know why they act like they do.

Don’t Constantly Rewind


As a reader, I don’t care to learn everything about a character as soon as they walk onto the page. It’s as if the rewind button is constantly on during the story and we aren’t making any progress. Consider that when we meet a real person—not that our characters and book buddies aren’t real to us in our mind—we don’t usually start with hearing their whole life story. There are those people. You’ve probably met them. I know I have and most of the time I'm tempted me to flee, or to try to avoid running into that person again.

Press Pause


The trick is finding that balance between learning just enough about the character to become invested, but not too much that you want to CTLR- ALT-DEL the story just to make it stop. When I read I love the action, but I also want some dialogue, and perhaps to pause a minute and tell me what’s going on in the environment. To allow me to see through the characters eyes and pause and reflect on what’s happening now and what might happen next.

Hit Reset


This hurried pace of this year has caused me to neglect some areas of my life as other areas demanded all of my time and attention. As the year rapidly comes to a close, I hope to spend some time reflecting on the things that make up a good story and apply some to my own. To make more time to pause so the fast pace doesn’t prevent me from appreciating the little things that make up each day.

One thing I have achieved this year was to find more time for reading. There’s nothing like a good story to reduce stress and add adventure into an ordinary day. If you’re still finishing up your shopping, or perhaps you deserve a few gifts yourself, you can check out this Holiday Gift Guide. A few of my books are featured, but there’s a variety of books to choose from. 


 

What Was the Pace of Your Year?


Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her websiteFacebookTwitter

Be the first to know about Maureen’s book sales and new releases by following her on BookBub, Amazon and/or signing up for her newsletter

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...