1. 5305437093421

    5305437093421 New Member

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    Character learning something scene

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by 5305437093421, Jun 20, 2012.

    Hi again!
    I am having trouble writing a scene without it becoming boring. I would usually say if a scene is boring I can remove it, but this one is necessary.
    The character is learning how to write, mostly by teaching himself through books (dictionaries, grammar instructions etc.) The purpose of the scene is to show his perseverance and the great accomplishment of writing his first few words. This ties into the next part of the story where he attracts unwanted attention, is treated like a circus act and is generally disrespected (by the way, the character is an alligator.)
    Summarising his long journey doesn't give the reader a proper idea of how much effort he put in and describing 'his thoughts' and 'how he turned the page' obviously becomes very boring. If this were a movie, it would be a training montage.
    Any tips? If you have read any books that had a similar sort of scene I'd like to know about them. :)
     
  2. killbill

    killbill Member

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    where the mind is without fear...
    Sounds like a cartoon movie script or a children's book. Anyway, I think, contrary to what you think, every details of how he learns the alphabets A to Z (for example) will be more boring, it will amount to hammering a point again and again. This might make the readers scream 'okay, I get it. Get on with the story already!' Choose one or two details, like how he learnt the first alphabet and may be how he struggled saying L-M-N-O-P very quickly in my example. This will "show" his struggle and his perseverance. Readers won't mind a bit of summary, actually it'll be a case of how "telling" can sometimes be useful. Also, the summary part may not be necessary at all, just a time skip to another scene where he is somewhat better learned than before, than another time skip to another scene where has accomplished what he wanted will do just fine.
     
  3. louis1

    louis1 Member

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    maybe you could show just the first time he tries to learn, and then trough out the story have him talk with a friend like:
    so how's been your day?
    - so great I finally got my name right!
    or

    that way you can skip the boring parts.
     

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