It depends on what kind of plots you like to use. If you favor character-development plots, then dialog-heavy writing is terrific. For action plots, you need plenty of description in short sentences.
Probably my favorite kind of story is where an individual character and a distinctive setting interact to create a plot that couldn't happen anywhere else. Those are tricky because you need enough description for the character and setting to be realized in the reader's mind, balanced against enough action to make the story exciting.
In my recent Torn World writing, I've done a lot of heavy-duty character development. Some of that is done with internal musings and descriptions of body language or social interactions. But some of it runs through intense dialog -- there are long sections of "Cutting Time" that are basically arguments between two or more people. Original scene notes for some of that were talking heads, so I actually went in later as the story developed and added a bit more description to improve the grounding. Torn World is also rich in "slice of life" stories that help us lay down a really solid foundation of the setting and characters. However, I also have some pieces in mind for Fala's story arc that will be more action-oriented, kind of wilderness-adventure stories. I have a story about Eshra, "On the Rocks," that plays out her close relationship with snow-unicorns contrasted against her very chopping social skills with humans. There the material-world actions build up a sense of risk, and the internal aspects reveal how Eshra feels about what is happening. You get to see how her emotions influence her actions, and vice versa.
When I go to write a story, I think about what tools I'll need for this particular one. I have a sense of its structure and where the balance falls. Some are mainly about feelings or personal epiphanies. Some are about external challenges. A story can have a fast or slow or varied pacing cadence. Thinking about what kind of story I want to tell ("How does Fala go from being a clingy girl to an independent woman?" is a story of emotional progression) will give me clues about how to tell it ("The plot should consist of events that change Fala's awareness of her feelings and her shifting role in the world.") so that I can choose the right tools for the job.
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dancing_serpent
Well...
Date: 2011-02-23 09:37 pm (UTC)Probably my favorite kind of story is where an individual character and a distinctive setting interact to create a plot that couldn't happen anywhere else. Those are tricky because you need enough description for the character and setting to be realized in the reader's mind, balanced against enough action to make the story exciting.
In my recent Torn World writing, I've done a lot of heavy-duty character development. Some of that is done with internal musings and descriptions of body language or social interactions. But some of it runs through intense dialog -- there are long sections of "Cutting Time" that are basically arguments between two or more people. Original scene notes for some of that were talking heads, so I actually went in later as the story developed and added a bit more description to improve the grounding. Torn World is also rich in "slice of life" stories that help us lay down a really solid foundation of the setting and characters. However, I also have some pieces in mind for Fala's story arc that will be more action-oriented, kind of wilderness-adventure stories. I have a story about Eshra, "On the Rocks," that plays out her close relationship with snow-unicorns contrasted against her very chopping social skills with humans. There the material-world actions build up a sense of risk, and the internal aspects reveal how Eshra feels about what is happening. You get to see how her emotions influence her actions, and vice versa.
When I go to write a story, I think about what tools I'll need for this particular one. I have a sense of its structure and where the balance falls. Some are mainly about feelings or personal epiphanies. Some are about external challenges. A story can have a fast or slow or varied pacing cadence. Thinking about what kind of story I want to tell ("How does Fala go from being a clingy girl to an independent woman?" is a story of emotional progression) will give me clues about how to tell it ("The plot should consist of events that change Fala's awareness of her feelings and her shifting role in the world.") so that I can choose the right tools for the job.