1. JSBernstein

    JSBernstein New Member

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    Hey, all.

    Discussion in 'New Member Introductions' started by JSBernstein, May 15, 2022.

    I'm Jay, and I mostly write absurdist novelettes exploring the quirks and foibles we all share.

    I am very interested in learning more effective techniques for handling expansive narrative timeframes. I find making clean transitions extremely difficult to write convincingly. Consequently, most of my work is restricted to a single setting and plays out within a short period, limiting my stories.

    Any advice would be fantastic.
     
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  2. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    What do you mean by transitions? Generally one scene or chapter just ends and a new one begins in a different setting. Is this what you're talking about? It's just a simple hard cut, like an edit in a movie. Back in silent days thay experimented with all kinds of transitions like fades, wipes and iris shots, but eventually the simple hard cut won out because it's less gimmicky and more useful. It sounds like you just need to learn to end a scene or a chapter and skip ahead to the new one.

    I've had periods where I would try to run everything together for some reason (when I was a youngster), but it was a mess and then in editing I had to cut out all the connecting stuff. It's fluff anyway, it needs to go. With good strong writing you get in, say what needs to be said, and get out. No need for run-on scenes, that's as annoying as when you try to switch off your engine but it just keeps puttering on and on, or when someone has said what they need to say but keep muttering.
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2022
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  3. JSBernstein

    JSBernstein New Member

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    Thanks for the swift reply.

    What I mean is time-shifting between scenes. Since my creative writing is rather terse, these shifts stand out even more. To combat this effect, the technique I generally use, if I must shift time, is utilizing clunky language: "He didn't see her again until the end of the summer," or "It was hours before the train arrived in the almost deserted station." Are there other techniques you can suggest that don't result in excessive jump scenes?

    I never have issues with overextending scenes; if anything, I end scenes too quickly. Unfortunately, I tend to feel compelled to show a 'reaction' scene after an 'action' scene, and therefore my writing sometimes does "run together." Many of these 'reaction' scenes don't make the final cut, but it seems only to make these transitions even more jarring.

    I never found the comparison of writing scenes for plays and, to a lesser extent, films to writing for the page applicable. I feel playgoers and moviegoers understand the limitations of telling stories in these formats and are more forgiving than readers. Do you find the same?
     
  4. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    I'll ignore the second topic since you started another thread for it. No need to complicate the thread by dividing it into two completely different topics.

    Personally I don't see what's wrong with the kinds of transitions you mentioned, if there's any need for the reader to know how much time has gone by or whatever. You don't want to do that often, usually they don't need to know, but when it's important just do it. If you're having a problem with it, chances are you're overdoing it. Usually you just need a straight-up scene break.


    You can use an extra space like I just did here, to indicate that some time has gone by. Intelligent readers don't generally need to be told "It's been three months" or whatever. That often feels like hand-holding, as is done in satires like the 60's Batman show, where they'd keep saying "Meanwhile, in Gotham City...". And if that info is important, it doesn't always need to be said in the first sentence. You can let it come out more naturally a little ways into the new scene.

    * * *​

    Or if you want to do a harder scene break you can use three asterisks, or maybe a short centered line. As I was trying to make clear with my movie analogies above, early filmmakers (probably DW Griffith, who pretty much worked out film grammar by himself) learned that audiences don't generally need the various devices to transition between shots, and in fact it turned out to feel gimmicky. They moved to just a straight cut, and stories often work best the same way. Cuts in movies and scene breaks in stories accomplish the same thing, even across different media, so it's good to think about these things across the full spectrum. It helps us understand that yes, straight cuts do tend to work better most times, even in different media. That's telling us something about the way storytelling itself works, independent of the media used, and maybe about the way the human mind works, which informs all the media we create. If something has been used and then fell out of favor—got naturally selected out so to speak—there are good reasons for it and we should pay attention to them.

    Ok, so I didn't totally ignore the second topic. But generally you don't want to introduce more than one topic into a thread, you'll lose the focus and dissipate the conversation.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2022
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  5. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    I just realized—one transition that did survive in filmmaking is the fade to or from black. It's pretty unobtrusive, and it serves a definite and very specific purpose. It lets audiences know some time has gone by. A straight cut could be a passage of time or a move to a new location. Or a different POV. But the fade to black definitely shows the passage of some time. It's often used if you're cutting to a new scene with the same character and possibly in the same location.

    I think to some extent the three asterisks serve a similar purpose. Not identical—it doesn't necessarily mean time has gone by. Or maybe it does, I haven't thought specifically about that before. I'd need to check several stories that use it. It would make sense though, since the narrative needs are identical in movies and written stories—sometimes you want to show that time has gone by, and you want an unobtrusive device to do it.

    In fact the three asterisks are literally something black that's been inserted into the gap. That's what makes it a stronger break than just an extra space. They almost read like an ellipsis, which definitely means time is passing...
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2022

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