: Re: Spicing up a moment of peace In the ever swinging tone of a novel, one may wish to show a moment of peace amidst all the chaos. In my novel it happens a few times, most notably when characters

@Alves689

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You could momentarily change the tone.

While not from the written word, the film 28 Days Later features a scene where the main characters encounter a grocery store that had not been looted, and the music lightens, the color brightens, and what would otherwise be a non-event becomes an interlude that shows just how strange their world has become, how something as mundane as grocery shopping has become a source of joy or lightheartedness. There's very little dialog, but there is a momentary massive shift in the feel of the film, and it even ends with a technicolor shot of their car driving across a wide-open space.

EDIT:
I would try to achieve this by using contrast in theme and tone. If you're writing a spy thriller and your character is trying to wrap his brain around the arcane geopolitical machinations, traveling through exotic places, and dealing with his and others' troubled histories, pull your character back to a familiar idea, a domestic setting, a peaceful camaraderie -- he's in a bazaar in some far flung land, trying to understand the intrigue around them; now he's in a American safehouse, with (seemingly?) familiar smells, colors, food, decor, people, and you can stop to describe these things' salient features as they compare or contrast to the character(s)' situation, in greater detail, since you're no longer moving at a fast pace that rules out such description. Just an idea.

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