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  1. M∅VEMNT

    M∅VEMNT New Member

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    How do I write repetitive actions?

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by M∅VEMNT, Jun 30, 2017.

    In the story I'm writing the MC is undergoing training and in the training his teacher has to constantly hit him in the stomach with energy blast till he becomes sensitive to the energy and can start to learn how to manipulate energy.
     
  2. X Equestris

    X Equestris Contributor Contributor

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    When dealing with repeated failures, I usually show the first one, then tell the others, and show again when something new and important happens. Showing everything even when it goes down more or less the same just grinds your pacing to a screeching halt.

    An example from a short story I'm polishing for another round of submissions:

    "...Instead of biting into flesh, the strike hit Fritigern’s shield, leaving a nick in her blade. No matter. Even lowly conscripts occasionally got lucky and lived past her first strike.

    Dancing away from the barbarian’s whirlwind of slashes, Cerona called upon the Gift a dozen more times, from a dozen different angles. The chieftain’s roundshield met each and every blow. Only a hint of annoyance lingered on his face, as if he were swatting at bothersome flies rather than blocking the cuts and thrusts of a skilled swordswoman."

    For context, her "Gift" is short-range teleportation and the ability to become invisible. She's never faced an enemy that wasn't befuddled by her usual tactics, which is why she keeps doing the same thing through a dozen failures.

    There is a later failure shown in detail, because it leads to injury and almost death. The details leading to her ultimate success follow.

    To apply this to your situation, you can show your protagonist absolutely failing the first time, with emotion and sensory description and everything, then gloss over similar failures. After that, you can focus on a sort of breakthrough, where the protag still fails but also shows progress. And from there, you can build up to MC getting it.
     
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  3. M∅VEMNT

    M∅VEMNT New Member

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    Thanks this really helps
     
  4. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

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    I suppose it depends exactly what you are doing with it. I think you probably do need to show him just sucking it up and dealing with the pain of being pummeled; maybe go inside his head and look at how he's coping with this at least a bit. Show him being determined or him thinking about what he's trying to get out of all this, leaving the training bit kinda in the background (but implicitly still happening) as you look more closely at him for a while with just some little hint to show that this going on and on and on.

    You can do something like write a paragraph about him gritting his teeth and then "No, again." then about him thinking maybe this is never going to work and I'm going to die here and is it worth it and "Again." And him thinking back to why he wanted to be here in the first place and then "Again." Something like that.

    I think you need to use some amount of words during it; just to show that it's happening and it's in the stories present. I think if you just kinda montage through it then it doesn't feel important, I think you need to stay in the moment with him, not to the tune of thousands of words, but for a page or two at least, just to get across that this is something that effecting him and that matters to what's going on. If it's hard to go through this when we should see that and then see it reflected in the character as he grows.
     
    Simpson17866 likes this.

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