Bob and Weave: How to Mix Character Actions and Internal Thoughts

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

The smoother the flow between action and thought, the stronger the scene will be.

Although some scenes (and some writers) naturally find the perfect balance between action and internal thought, other scenes take work to get that balance right. Tip it too far in either direction, and the writing can come across as too slow (too much in a character's head) or too flat (all description, no character).

There's no rule or ratio for this, since a writer's voice grows from how they string words together. If we all wrote the exact same way, all books would sound alike. And who wants that?

A strong action/thought combination is when the character's actions flow smoothly with their thoughts and work in tandem to tell the story. 

The genre will affect that balance, such as a more thoughtful novel typically tips more to the internal thought side, while a thriller usually leans toward the action.

A Simple Trick to a Stronger First-Person Narrative

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Who you’re telling the story to is just as important as where the narrator is. 

I recently answered a question about writing first person, but over the weekend I had a thought that put it in much simpler terms. First person has always had a strange “I’m telling the story, yet I’m living the story, too” vibe that can make it tough to write well. But just like any other point of view, knowing where your narrator is can help you decide how to write it.

The narrative distance scale slides from close to distant, but with first person, it’s a slightly different scale. I like to think of it as the “reflective distance.” Instead of distancing your narrator from your reader, you’re showing the distance from the narrator and the events of the story.