Support for Indie Authors discussion

So, I guess the big question is - are there breaks in the action?

The action should sort of rise and fall, rise and fall. You should also plant some false hope. The climax usually comes after a false climax - everything seems to be working out, the characters are going to get what they want and everything will be fine. Then something calamatous happens and all of that is washed away.

Cue moment of despair. And if your readers are properly emotionally invested, they won't be bored by that moment of despair because they have seen everything your character struggled for being destroyed.

Then the character makes a decision which will lead to some kind of character growth - if your character has a fear of heights, for example, he may have to climb a tower, or if your character has avoided a conflict he seeks it out - which leads to the true climax where everything is truly concluded and resolved.

If your calm moment of talking helps build toward any of these things - shows what the character has at stake or reveals vital character backstory that explains things which were previously mysterious - then you should be fine.

C.L. wrote: "So, I guess the big question is - are there breaks in the action?

The action should sort of rise and fall, rise and fall. You should also plant some false hope. The climax usually comes after a fa..."

Yes there are breaks, I've focused on keeping a good balance throughout. This part in question isn't connected with the climax, but we're going into that build up shortly after.

What you're saying makes sense, thank you!

Every story. Every every every EVERY story has the potential of being cheesy, boring, tedious, too melodramatic and whatnot, just as every every every every EVERY story has the potential of being pulse-pounding, riveting, page turning and memorable. It's all in how you tell it. YOU are in charge.

Without seeing your actual story, I can't comment on whether it is cheesy or boring. And even if I could, bottom line is, I'm one man. My opinion is just that.

Now. I don't read a lot of fantasy. Most of what I've tried to read has been dull. The main reason is because there's so much sword and sorcery, dragons and dungeons and very little character development. A little emotion from your characters makes them believable. The less they have, the more they resemble a character from a video game. If your gut is telling you to go balls-out emotional with your book, do it. But, if it gets to the point you think it's too cheesy or melodramatic, back off. Trust your instincts.

Dwayne wrote: "Every story. Every every every EVERY story has the potential of being cheesy, boring, tedious, too melodramatic and whatnot, just as every every every every EVERY story has the potential of being p..."

Thank you! I really, really appreciate that!

Of course there are breaks in an action scene, they may be minor, they may be bigger, but all in all the protagonists' and antagonists' ... ahem... actions determine the what, where and how.

But you can make these calm moments appear almost nonexistent, for further reference, check out The Dark Knight movie, the action and tension in that film is relentless.

Action sequences are more than a mere jog in the morning, they require emotions aplenty, in my opinion, to truly strike the right tone. Overwhelming circumstances that force characters to react requires a moment to reground and analyze the events that just took place. If you miss that step, at least somewhere, then you deny the real need we all have to stop and catch our breath, no matter how hardass the character may be or how brief that moment is in the story.