As a writer and teacher of fiction, I am very aware of the importance of maintaining continuity. I often write on workshop students' pieces "Give us more connective tissue." What do I mean by that? Perhaps a novel is too episodic, and the episodes don't connect enough, or perhaps the characters are each going on their own paths and not bouncing off each other in a tight action/reaction dance. Or the main protag's challenge has little to do with the theme of the story.
Think of a body. It has a heart--the story core--and it has parts that each do their duty. In a body, without connective tissue, the muscle that holds the body together, or lymph that pushes out toxins, or the blood that feeds and oxygenates, the parts would loosen and fall apart. The main characters' wants and needs should weave together in a complex design, and the story should have a clear, arching trajectory.
Think continuity!
What do you think is important in pulling a story together as one whole?
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| Alex Grey, Visionary Art |
Think of a body. It has a heart--the story core--and it has parts that each do their duty. In a body, without connective tissue, the muscle that holds the body together, or lymph that pushes out toxins, or the blood that feeds and oxygenates, the parts would loosen and fall apart. The main characters' wants and needs should weave together in a complex design, and the story should have a clear, arching trajectory.
Think continuity!
What do you think is important in pulling a story together as one whole?
So true! Everything has to be connected and make sense as a whole for a story to work. This is why I sometimes write out of order. As strange as it sounds, sometimes I have to get to a certain point where my characters are all meshing with the story and write that before I can figure out how to get them there.
ReplyDeleteJust as in real life, it doesn't matter how many threads knit a person together. It's about that person eventually recognizing those threads and allowing the journey. It's the same for stories.
ReplyDeleteThe first book I wrote was episodic, though I didn't know that at the time. I thought it was pretty neat but beta readers had trouble connecting with the characters because that connective tissue was missing. after writing another book and starting a third, I think I'm ready to go back to book one and 'connect the dots' Cool post!
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! :)
ReplyDeleteI think emotion, and character motivation helps to pull a story together.
Sometimes my longer stuff is episodic, because I'm a short story writer at heart so it's the style that comes naturally. The more I practise, though, the better I'll get - eventually!
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard one since there's no ctrl+F feature for connective tissue. It's also hard to see for the writer since our head contains all the little details that might not have made it into our writing. This is another one of those times when having another pair (or 12) sets of eyes is so helpful.
ReplyDeleteContinuity is a great C word for a writer. Nothing upsets the reader more than being jarred out of the narrative flow for some random bit on information that doesn't even matter-- Grrr!! Great post!
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you, and welcome to the Challenge!
KarenG
A to Z Challenge Host
I always think of my stories as containing threads. They can be weaved into a complex design, but I've got to make sure all threads make it from beginning to end.
ReplyDeleteyep! well said!
ReplyDeletei am having trouble connecting what my cp advised to my own vision...compromise, i guess!
I think for some people continuity is one of the hardest things to master. Probably, because sometimes it's the voice that isn't consistent and it's hard to show that in a concrete way. I just know it's a hard critique to give, because you almost always receive a blank stare.
ReplyDeleteBeth, I laughed about the "blank stare" response. Unfortunately, that's sometimes true. But a good teacher or crtique partner should be able to explain in a way that the writer will understand. Sarah, so true about that second and third pair of eyes! Cecelia, yes emotion in particular does help pull story together. And Kelly, yes, often it's easier to write the key scenes and then place them in the trajectory. They serve as beacons. I also write the end scene early in most cases, which provides clarity of through-line. The one episodic novel I really love is Jesus' Son, by Denis Johnson. But in most cases, episodic story is best in the TV realm.
ReplyDeleteI just read a book about time travel and a lot of the exposition detailed the timelienes, which were a little tricky to follow. Continuity must have been difficult for the author, I imagine she had some type of flowchart to keep it straight.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. If things aren't connected properly the reader may find things pointless and they may become bored and annoyed :)
ReplyDeleteUniversal Gibberish
Connection is key. If the story line strays and doesn't resolve issues in the end or leaves the reader thinking to me it doesn't work. Catherine I live in the NYC area too, about 20 minutes outside of NYC.
ReplyDeleteVisiting and now GFC follower through the A to Z Challenge. Lovely blog!
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Donna
Award-winning Children’s Author
Write What Inspires You Blog
The Golden Pathway story book Blog
This is why I outline - to make sure my continuity is in order. I don't want to alienate someone because I screwed up the details. Great post!
ReplyDeleteMy C
An elegant post, Catherine. I feel like I really took something away from this paragraph, in particular:
ReplyDelete'"Give us more connective tissue." What do I mean by that? Perhaps a novel is too episodic, and the episodes don't connect enough, or perhaps the characters are each going on their own paths and not bouncing off each other in a tight action/reaction dance. Or the main protag's challenge has little to do with the theme of the story.'
Coming to grips with a ton 'in the trenches' with a revision, right now. Good word.
Wow, this post really resonated with me. That is to say, I don't know that I've ever seen this matter addressed so concretely...I've worked with a nebulous sort of "big picture" in mind before, which is perhaps my intuitive way of approaching this "body of work." Also; "Connective Tissue" would make for a great punk rock band name. :-)
ReplyDeleteSome Dark Romantic
I love the "give us more connective tissue!" Connective tissue, amazing stuff. Great post!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a great analogy with the body's connective tissue. I'll keep it in mind when I'm writing and editing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. Good luck with the challenge!
Mina, you made me laugh. Yes, I can see the punk band Connective Tissue! They'd wear outfits with painted veins and muscle or something. Stephsco, I have actually seen some flow chart type of outlines. I saw one for Star Wars that looked like a symphonic composition. Thanks, Suze for the kudos. I outline now--too many months down the tubes from pantser wanderings. And yes, Anna, stories without enough woven threads can be boring!
ReplyDeleteIt has to make sense. It's frustrating to have lack of continuity in books and even more so in television or movies. It can completely take you out of the scene.
ReplyDeleteEvery action has a reaction. So whatever one character does causes another character to do something in return And I'm not explaining that too well.
ReplyDelete