Elements of Fiction (76)

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Abstract

ss — and it’s the same illusion in both fiction and nonfiction: persistence of vision.”</p><p id="57f6">“A graceful transition often requires a good hard look at the logic of the story: What would such a person really do? What would the next event be in real life? Does nature really behave this way?”</p><p id="c148">William Sloane has also pondered transition, “Scenes have a lot of work to do. Not only do they have to advance the work of fiction in terms of action, character, and theme, but they require a solution to the problem of transitions. These fictional scene dividers may be of an infinite variety and should, of course, be made as inconspicuous as possible.”</p><p id="39be">“When transitions become an integral part of the action they do many things. They show the passage of time: ‘Three hours later we were still at it.’ They interpret the setting as part of the action: ‘The big room, when she entered, was being made ready for the solemn occasion.’ They even characterize: ‘In his usual aimless fashion he had neglected to provide for their arrival.’”</p><p id="7a21">“Scenes can be constructed so that no transition is needed. If the reader can find his way quickly enough into the new scene he will made his own transition.”</p><p id="a938">And back to Gardner, “A brief <i>transitional scene</i> might show Pigtoe driving down Lipes Rid

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ge Road (or whatever) toward the junction of the state highway and the interstate. We get some of Pigtoe’s thoughts, sharp images of how he drives the truck, and above all <i>a dramatized movement from one world to another</i>.”</p><p id="f7ce">“At the beginning of a story, in the usual case, we find the writer using either long or medium shots. He moves in a little for scenes with high intensity, draws back for transitions, moves in still closer for the story’s climax.”</p><p id="9eae">And a final piece of advice from Ayn Rand, “Dramatization serves as the emphasis of your story. The key events should be dramatized. The less important material, such as transitions, can be narrated.”</p><p id="032e">Happy writing.</p><p id="46fa">© Wolfstuff</p><div id="5925" class="link-block"> <a href="http://wolfstuff.com"> <div> <div> <h2>Wolfstuff</h2> <div><h3>So, who am I? Really really. I could tell you that I was born in northern Sweden during a snow storm, and subsequently…</h3></div> <div><p>wolfstuff.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*3DyeB7MiVorp31um)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Element 76: Transition

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When you view the story as a garment consisting of front and back and arms and perhaps legs that have to be smoothly joined, transition takes on a meaning of its own. The story must wind up a cohesive, coherent whole and to do this the sawing needs be as seamless as possible.

Here are some writers’ musings on this subject.

From the the always observant John Gardner, “The efficient and elegant writer makes each scene bear as much as it can without clutter or crowding, and moves by the smoothest, swiftest transitions possible from scene to scene.”

As for Ayn Rand, “Don’t let your seams show.”

While Philip Gerard observes, “Transitions are the friction points between bearing surfaces — scenes and chapters.”

“A space break is not a transition; it represents the absence of a transition.”

“A transition fills in the gaps between discrete scenes, bridges the distance between then and now, here and there.”

“The magic lies in creating that illusion of completeness — and it’s the same illusion in both fiction and nonfiction: persistence of vision.”

“A graceful transition often requires a good hard look at the logic of the story: What would such a person really do? What would the next event be in real life? Does nature really behave this way?”

William Sloane has also pondered transition, “Scenes have a lot of work to do. Not only do they have to advance the work of fiction in terms of action, character, and theme, but they require a solution to the problem of transitions. These fictional scene dividers may be of an infinite variety and should, of course, be made as inconspicuous as possible.”

“When transitions become an integral part of the action they do many things. They show the passage of time: ‘Three hours later we were still at it.’ They interpret the setting as part of the action: ‘The big room, when she entered, was being made ready for the solemn occasion.’ They even characterize: ‘In his usual aimless fashion he had neglected to provide for their arrival.’”

“Scenes can be constructed so that no transition is needed. If the reader can find his way quickly enough into the new scene he will made his own transition.”

And back to Gardner, “A brief transitional scene might show Pigtoe driving down Lipes Ridge Road (or whatever) toward the junction of the state highway and the interstate. We get some of Pigtoe’s thoughts, sharp images of how he drives the truck, and above all a dramatized movement from one world to another.”

“At the beginning of a story, in the usual case, we find the writer using either long or medium shots. He moves in a little for scenes with high intensity, draws back for transitions, moves in still closer for the story’s climax.”

And a final piece of advice from Ayn Rand, “Dramatization serves as the emphasis of your story. The key events should be dramatized. The less important material, such as transitions, can be narrated.”

Happy writing.