Hey guys havent posted here in a looooooooooooong time. lookin to get active again woo. so anyway, im just wondering if anyone thinks its possible to have too much happening in their story. looking at mine, i swear every chapter something bizarre happens, and im not actually sure if this is a good thing example, in one chapter, a guy gets his arm lopped off, gets saved, a monster gets killed, then blam they are in more trouble blam next chapter they are in prison, then blam rescued, then away we go into a dangerous forest. whats better- something amazing happening every chapter, but at the risk of predictability, or pacing it a little slower, but at the risk of boredom? thanks!
Depends how it flows together. If all these crazy adventures tie together in a logical story with believable, likable characters--then I'm ignoring work and turning pages. Personally, I really love epic, extreme, edge of the seat entertainment, but only if it makes sense. Even Douglas Adams made sense, even if it was the weird kind. //R
There are writing coaches who insist that every page contain a conflict. While I don't necessarily agree with that extreme, it does underscore the need to keep the story moving and the characters off balance. If the characters have no pressure on them, it's easy for the reader to set the book down and not feel a strong need to pick iy up again. But I do believe it's possible to have too much going on. Deciding when you have crossed that line is complicated. You need to follow the rise and fall of te pace, and frankly, how plausible the run of the Calamity Train is. Can you make the reader believe it happened, and that your characters survived it all to the extent they did. Don't worry too much about it during your first draft, unless it's obvious to you it is way over the top. It's better to consider it in the framework of a completed draft. The more stories you have completed, the better your instincts will become during the initial drafts.
I don't see it as a bad thing that there is a lot of action within a story, as long as it is all relevant to the overall theme. For example, if they end up in prison, and get out again, there must be a reason why they ended up there which helps to move the story on again, otherwise it is an eventuful but wasted few chapters. Perhaps they find out some key information, or meet a vital character inside, but there must be a reason why they are there. If it is all relevant, then action-packed chapters can make a story extremelly interesting. Good luck
there's no way any of us can tell if it's 'too much' or not, without reading it... so it's really useless to ask... just finish writing it and then see if it reads well...
For action genre novels, it is much better to have your agent say: "Your plot is too thick." than "Your plot is too thin." Note that you have to also develop your characters well. There should be a balance of all the necessary fiction elements, such as setting, characterization, dialogue, action, etc. This, of course, depends on the genre. You should check out books from Matthew Reilly who is well known for over the top action.
