: Re: How to write intercut scenes in a novel? I wish to write an intercut scene for a novel, where two very contrasting things are happening at the same time. The technique works really well on

It's not difficult but the structure needs setting up in advance. The writer must establish characters and their locations. These characters do not know one another and have never met. In this example I have used media and an event.

Chapter One introduces Corrine Radman, a stock-trader, she sits in an open plan office in front a Bloomberg terminal with six screens. On the walls hang large LCD screens tuned to various news and financial channels.

Chapter Two shows us Calvin Jackson. Calvin owns a small auto-repair show. He is currently in his office with Mrs Rodriguez who is paying her bill. From behind his counter her can see the TV in the customer waiting area.

Chapter Three Takes us to the foyer of the FBI headquarters. Special Agent Vanessa Caldwell has just been transferred from the Wisconsin field office. She is watching Fox News on the screens behind the receptionist as she waits to be escorted upstairs.

Characters and locations set.

KABOOM! - We blow up Wilmington Nuclear power station.

We are in a position to rapidly cycle through scenes and locations using only the character name as the trigger. There's no need for new chapters or scene breaks, just new paragraphs.

WTF! Corrine's eyes remained fixed to the news report on the big screen. Whilst others left their workstations and watched in awe, Corrine remained seated, her fingers moving rapidly as she dumped stocks and changed positions. Please don't suspend the DOW, please.

Agent Caldwell leapt out of her seat and ran across the foyer. "Hey, you!" she shouted at the receptionist. "Can you turn that up?"

Calvin waived goodbye to Mrs Rodriguez. The TV screen caught his eye as he crossed the workshop. The Chyron read, US Under Terrorist Attack". He wandered into the waiting room and watched for a few moments. He rolled his eyes: More fake news he concluded before picking up the remote and switching the channel to MTV Base.

Caldwell continued to watch the screen as activity inside the Hoover building increased to a panicked frenzy. All the lights on the switchboard lit up as calls flooded in.

"Yes!" Corrine threw her hands in the air.

Her colleagues turned to her, offering a unified look of disapproval.

"What?" she shrugged. "I just traded out all my domestic based premiums, saving my clients over 22 million dollars. What have you lot been doing?"

Is that what you meant?

Load Full (0)

: Your question is moot because you're overthinking your issue. There is no 'general reader' because we all live in different bubbles and have different knowledge bases. For example: I'm currently

@Margaret427

Load Full 0 Comments

: What's the name of this type of "literary work"? Character1: dialogue Character2: action Character1: ... Character1: dialogue In the context of fanfiction, they're sometimes referred to as drabbles.

@Margaret427

Load Full 1 Comments

: How can one "treat writing as a job" even though it doesn't pay? I hear this advice a lot: "Treat your writing as a job." But it seems to me that this is easier said/done when it is actually

@Margaret427

Load Full 8 Comments

: Questionable behavior by editor Last year, I worked for an organization that published a weekly blog on its website. The blog was also published as a newspaper column and was included in a

: Re: How to write intercut scenes in a novel? I wish to write an intercut scene for a novel, where two very contrasting things are happening at the same time. The technique works really well on

More posts by @Margaret427

: Your question is moot because you're overthinking your issue. There is no 'general reader' because we all live in different bubbles and have different knowledge bases. For example: I'm currently

: What's the name of this type of "literary work"? Character1: dialogue Character2: action Character1: ... Character1: dialogue In the context of fanfiction, they're sometimes referred to as drabbles.

: How can one "treat writing as a job" even though it doesn't pay? I hear this advice a lot: "Treat your writing as a job." But it seems to me that this is easier said/done when it is actually

: Questionable behavior by editor Last year, I worked for an organization that published a weekly blog on its website. The blog was also published as a newspaper column and was included in a

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top

: Re: How to write intercut scenes in a novel? I wish to write an intercut scene for a novel, where two very contrasting things are happening at the same time. The technique works really well on

More posts by @Margaret427

: Your question is moot because you're overthinking your issue. There is no 'general reader' because we all live in different bubbles and have different knowledge bases. For example: I'm currently

: What's the name of this type of "literary work"? Character1: dialogue Character2: *action* Character1: ... Character1: dialogue In the context of fanfiction, they're sometimes referred to as drabbles.

: How can one "treat writing as a job" even though it doesn't pay? I hear this advice a lot: "Treat your writing as a job." But it seems to me that this is easier said/done when it is actually

: Questionable behavior by editor Last year, I worked for an organization that published a weekly blog on its website. The blog was also published as a newspaper column and was included in a

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top

: What's the name of this type of "literary work"? Character1: dialogue Character2: action Character1: ... Character1: dialogue In the context of fanfiction, they're sometimes referred to as drabbles.