Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

Reading Slate's article about how a pause can be the most devastating effect in music, I thought about the equivalents in writing.

Sometimes the absence or avoidance of a thing can be more powerful than the description of a thing itself, especially when (avoiding) depicting relationships or past traumatic events. If everyone avoids talking about a thing, or describing it more than glancingly from a tight POV, even when it would come up naturally, that says volumes. It's the elephant in the room. A technique for writing this that 4th Street brought up is to write the scene with all this stuff in, and then just remove it all, without cleaning up the jagged edges or obvious gaping holes.

Driving action and dialog is a huge part of how people are told they should write these days. (No, it hasn't been always--there are styles and fads in the received wisdom of writing, too.) Break that drive deliberately. Having conversation or, in a tight POV, focus on small descriptive details that don't apply directly to the most important part of a scene can really convey a lot of emotional impact. What does a character choose to notice before doing, speaking, or deciding something momentous?

Along the same lines, broad sweeping description or close-up details can do miracles to establish mood. Just use this technique sparingly and avoid wide "establishing shots" at the beginning of your story.

Sub-plot can be the silence in the main story. It can be the dramatic pause or the emotional relief. At the end of the story, a trailing golden thread of sub-plot after an overwhelming climax, especially one that is emotionally wrenching, can leave the reader feeling more satisfied and gently released from the story.

Trail off into silence at the end of the story. Use small, quiet descriptions and details that suggest life and the world in the book goes on. Make the world larger than the story and leave room for it to expand in readers' daydreams.