The Betweens

It’s important to write the main, tension-filled story, but don’t forget to write the in-between parts as well: sensory details, secondary characters, secondary plots. These add depth to a storyline and give the reader a chance to settle in and get comfortable while the story unfolds.

Thin streaks of magenta lay between the dark mountains and the blue-black sky. The Lake Dreams the Sky by Swain Wolfe (p.48)

There was a quarter moon sending a white shaft of light through the open window. It wasn’t cold, just cold enough to make you pull the covers to your chin and let the fresh air hit your face.  The Target by Catherine Coulter (p.93)

It was a glorious autumn morning; the heat had been broken by a Canadian air mass and the …air which foreign visitors compares to champagne seemed to crackle with pleasure. Ellis Island by Fred Mustard Stewart (p.47)

She lived her life in an envelope. (unknown author)

A closing comment:

Drama is extracted from the most mundane occasions – a trip to the garage, the gutting of a chicken, the discovery of a wasps’ nest under the roof. Coming from the right person, these small moments can take on a dramatic significance more suited to the Comedie Francise than a village bar, and I always find them fascinating.  Encore Provence by Peter Mayle (p.26)

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