: Re: Static Scenes that still Move the Story Forward I've just read a tutorial about scenic techniques in novel-writing that recommends that a story should have a rhythm of static scenes and dramatic

@Sarah872

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I find that the scenes used most often and most effectively to break tension and push narrative are "uneventful" travelogues. Using travel as a downtime sequence lets the reader rest from the action but still allows the author some exposition and pushes the plot along into a new setting. Jim Butcher uses this very well in the Dresden Files and it's also used to good effect in the Coyote books and Simon R. Green's Nightside to name a few. The fact that travel can turn dangerous in an instant was well used in both the Nightside and Laundry Files to maintain a little tension so that the plunge back into the action isn't too shocking.

Let me finish by saying that I actually disagree with the basic premise, I think there are a good number of very good stories that don't let the reader rest at all. Such tales move along through a continuous series of active, tense scenes and only rest right at the end, after the climax of the final act. Pick whichever style resonates with you, in my experience writers do better work for themselves than they do with the intent to show an audience.

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