If you find your novel bogging down, make them move. I am serious. Make them walk, run, vacuum the house, or climb a tree to look into a window. In the movie, Sex, Lies, and Videotapes, the protagonist discovers her husband is have an affair with her sister when she vacuums up an earring. That’s some VERY angry vacuuming. These mundane tasks that affect a story’s trajectory are simple events that can have a profound effect on the storyline and yet one that we can all relate to. Most of us own vacuums. Can you relate to the anger in finding evidence of your husband’s affair in YOUR bedroom with your SISTER as YOU vacuum? I sure can.
Physical action will immediately pick up the pace. Different scenario. What about the physically abused wife who runs around the block because the thought that her husband might be a murderer is creating such mental chaos, she needs to outrun those thoughts. Or our protagonist nearly falls out of a tree because he’s spying on his neighbor who he thinks killed his wife, and, bob’s your uncle, tension on a platter. Of course, this movement should pertain to either the plot or character development; see earring above. Remember our star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet? Shakespeare throws in some awesome sword fights, and the death of Mercutio at sword-point seals our lovers’ fates. The tragedy of that play hinges on a sword fight. Another example is the Harry Potter series. Every book in the series spans a school year. The strength of this series is in the world-building. We don’t really have a ton of plot movement over the breadth of the series—Voldemort is trying to kill Harry—and yet we have those AWESOME Quidditch matches where several supporting plot points to the main plot arc are introduced.
Brooms flying through the air!!! Is there anything more exciting?
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