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Why Boring is Good



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Wed Apr 26, 2006 7:17 am
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Snoink says...



One time, I emailed a chapter of my story, FREAK to another writer. She looked at it, and this was her response: "It was a good boring chapter."

Boring??? I was immediately offended. Boring is good? I asked her what she meant.

"Nothing. It was boring. A nice chapter."

Okaaaaaaaaaaaay...

I've read several books on novel writing to try to develop my style. In them, the authors talked on and on about how action was always a must and how there should be no scene where there is any pause. It should just lead to the climax.

In a way, this seems to be true. Many authors (published ones included) use boring parts as an excuse for mediocre writing, which is always bad, and intense scenes for fabulous writing. We never seem to remember the boring stuff at first. It's the action that leads us on.

With that said, is there something wrong with a boring chapter?

Looking back at my own novel, I am noticing little bits and pieces of boring stuff. That is, it seems that there isn't any action. At first, when I was reading it, I was tempted to cut it out. The only thing that really stopped me was that it was cute and I liked it. Yes, the books said that boring was bad, but I liked it.

So what to do?

I thought about it for a while and finally I decided that boring can be good. If you have a particularly intense story, the reader will feel anxious about what is going on, and every once and a while, you have to pat the reader's back and reassure him that it's okay. Remember when you were little your mom read to you stories, and when you got anxious and squirmed under the covers, your mom would look up at you and maybe pat your feet to comfort you? Same idea.

Good boring scenes will tie up any loose ends that need to be tied and give the reader a chance to pause and reflect back on the story. No, the reader will probably not remember them after he shuts the book, but at the same time, they help the overall flow of the story and serve as excellent transitional tools.

In short? Boring is good.

Don't be afraid to pause after several action scenes for a chapter which is less intense, especially when you feel it ought to be there. In the end, writing is what is right for you. Don't be afraid to write.
Last edited by Snoink on Tue May 09, 2006 3:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

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Wed Apr 26, 2006 12:30 pm
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Rei says...



Less action doesn't necessarily mean boring. However, you are right. We need those less action-oriented scenes to give is a rest from the high-action scenes. That's why, in The Two Towers, we are taken away from the battle at Helm's Deep every so often.
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Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:09 pm
Ohio Impromptu says...



If Robert Ludlum hadn't given me a break every once and a while, I would have suffered any number of heart attacks during the Jason Bourne series. The same applies to lots of stories.
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Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:47 pm
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Duskglimmer says...



If you take the word "boring" and replace it with "slow" then I will agree with this.

If the scene is actually boring, it's time to rewrite it. If it's boring for the writer, it's definately boring for the reader.

However, it's nice to contrast the faster paced scenes with slower ones for several reasons. 1) it gives the reader a break. 2) it allows the reader to think over the stuff that they've just had thrown at them and 3) it varies things so that the whole thing does not become boring.
The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief. ~William Shakespeare, Othello
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Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:50 pm
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Ego says...



Gotta agree with Dusky here; boring is boring, not fun. SLOW, however, can be fun. Nobody wants to read a boring chapter...it's tedious and, well, BORING.
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Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:38 pm
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Firestarter says...



Indeed, boring is never good in any walk of life - in essence, it lacks interest: so why would anyone want to read anything boring? As Dusky said, I think you meant slow rather than boring.
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Thu Apr 27, 2006 3:46 am
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Snoink says...



XD

Sometimes I forget I'm not on TYWC. I was showing some of my work to someone there, and as soon as she read the fifth chapter of FREAK, she said, "That was a nice boring chapter."

Of course, this made me go crazy. My story was... boring???????? So I made her explain at once. She went on to say (rather lamely, might I add) about how boring chapters were good. I thought it was funny (plus it was a catchy title, so I stuck with it. Of course, now that I think aboutit, I ought to have put that story in the beginning for a better transitional effect, but my mind works very slowly (boringly?) at midnight.

I'll edit the post soon so it makes more sense. ;)
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





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Thu Apr 27, 2006 3:49 am
Elelel says...



Yeah ... I agree with the whole slow not boring thing. I can get bored in the most action packed bits, so to me it doesn't really seem right to associate speed with interest.

So you're most deffinately right if we substitute "slow" for "boring" because we need our slow bits.
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Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:18 am
thechair says...



How about....space your story out and set a pace
  








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