The Seven Deadly Sins of Island-Hopping
(and no, this has nothing to do with the Pacific Theatre in WWII)
For all my fellow island-hoppers
What in the world is island-hopping?
Well, you see, there are some of us writers out there who can’t seem to write an entire chapter from one character’s point of view in one group of characters. And so, we island-hop. Meaning, we change groups of characters or we change the point of view (whether it be first person or third person from a different character’s perspective) within a chapter. Often times, these separate sections – or islands – are called scenes.
Island-hopping can be a wonderful tool when you are writing limited third person and change the character whose mind you delve into every scene, or if you change speakers in first person. This way you can interweave separate stories occurring in the same passage of time. Island-hopping is if Tolkien would have taken The Two Towers and wrote it like it is portrayed in the movie – switching between storylines according to the time at which the events take place.
However, island-hopping also has its downfalls. For one, when these islands become extremely short, your story can become disjointed. Or you can become so focused on a certain group of characters that you completely neglect the others. Or you start writing meaningless scenes just to let the reader know that no, you have not completely forgotten about so-and-so, and no, you are not excluding their favorite character just to spite them.
You are probably wondering what I’m trying to tell you by now, so here I go. Here are the seven deadly sins of island-hopping (in no particular order).
1. Scenes That Are Too Small (In Your Mind). Emphasis on in your mind. It's okay to have small scenes, but if you think it is too short, this is for you. Think about it, if you jump on an island that is too small, you are going to fall in.
What can make your islands too small? When your islands are way too small, it usually means that you can’t think of anything to write for this certain group of characters because nothing is really happening, you’re being lazy, your pacing is too abrupt or you are just so incredibly sick of these characters that you just want to throw bricks at them. All of these are very bad things.
What do small scenes do to your story? Well, first, they make it disjointed. You, as the author, are jumping here and there rapidly and not giving your readers a chance to understand what is going on. Second, you are seriously stunting your character development by giving yourself so little time with your characters.
How do you fix small scenes? First, you can get to know your characters and you will become more interested them. Second, you can stop rushing and start paying careful attention to description and all that other lovely writing stuff. Third, you can make the scene meaningful (start a conversation, an argument, insert some action – ANYTHING to make it worthwhile!). And if you feel like throwing bricks at your characters, I suggest you go see Dream Deep’s casting sessionstip and try casting a new character, because characters don’t like having bricks thrown at them. Trust me. You wouldn't either.
2. Stunting Character Development. Characters are what makes a story come to life, and if you take the life out of your characters, you suck the life out of your story.
Why is your character development stunted? If your islands are too small or too fast, you end up giving your characters little attention. How does this happen? There are many causes. First, if you are rushing, it is obvious that you are neglecting your characters. Second, if you are heavily reliant on action and only want to get to your next group of characters, you can also neglect your characters. Third, if your scene holds little meaning, then it is much harder to develop your characters within it. Lastly, there is the entire bricks thing, but I’ve already talked about that.
What does this do to your story? It sucks the life out of your story, disinterests the reader and leaves you with a handful of underdeveloped, clichéd characters in the end. If that doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what will.
How to fix it? Take your time; learn from your characters and let them talk for themselves within the scene. Give the scene meaning so the characters can express themselves through everything they do. Set them free to an extent. This will sound awfully basic, but, essentially, characterize them! Set them apart through their actions and dialogue. Make them real.
3. Inserting Meaningless Scenes. Have you ever completely forgotten about a character (if you have, the next point is for you. *glares*)? Most of the time, no… and neither has the reader, so you don’t need to bombard them with the fact that yes, so-and-so is still alive every other scene. Remember, you only have so many scenes in your story. There will come a time when you reach the end, and you want to be satisfied that you have made every scene worthwhile.
Why do we insert meaningless scenes? Because we are afraid either we or the readers will forget, or we feel rotten for not talking about so-and-so lately. Or we're just bored.
What does it do? First, it bores the reader. The reader doesn’t like reading meaningless scenes. Second, it clogs up the story and makes you cringe while rereading. Third, it’s just plain annoying.
How do you fix it? Well, obviously, you don’t write meaningless scenes. Now, by saying you need meaningful scenes, I don’t mean that every scene has to be actions-packed or contain some mind-blowing revelation. No. A simple conversation that foreshadows or brings out something in a character can be meaningful. But how do you avoid meaningless scenes? I find it is very helpful to analyze the scene and list off as many things it reveals/does to the reader as possible. If you can’t find any or only find a few minor ones which are addressed somewhere else, you don’t need it.
4. Forgetting Characters. (I don’t mean blanking out for a moment – I mean truly, honestly forgetting) So, the guy with no name walks into the forest with your group of characters and never comes out. Of course, everyone else comes out, but this dude randomly disappears and is never seen again. Chances are you forgot him. And I’m not going to let you write a two paragraph blurb about how he died tripping over a rock. That’s just… wrong.
Why do we forget characters? I am guilty of this too, so no one feel terribly ashamed. Basically, we are focused on other, more primary characters who intrigue us far more than the dude with no name. That, and we just want to move along with the story and the skip the not-so-dramatic death of dude-with-no-name. So we forget him.
What does it do the story? Well, if that dude with no name is one of your reader’s favorite characters, you can only imagine what horrors you will endure. Still, it makes the story unrealistic and unemotional. It shows the reader that you are careless with your characters and that you did not take enough time to develop that character to the point where they were worth remembering. I am sorry if I sound harsh, but it is true.
How do you fix it? Here, we go back to character development. Develop that character so you won’t forget him or her. Making character lists also helps keep you on track. That, or get rid of the character once and for all.
5. Favoritism. Characters do not like favoritism any more than we do. I am not talking about major versus minor characters. I mean, between major characters who are essential and interesting in the story.
What causes favoritism? Well, we pick favorites, whether it be because of their personality or other.
What does it do? It makes the ratio of scenes unbalanced. Just imagine if Tolkien wrote the entirety of The Two Towers on Frodo and every seven or eight scenes inserted a little blurb about Aragorn. Wouldn’t that make you mad? It would make me furious! So, it frustrates your readers and stunts the development of the unfavored characters.
How do you fix it? Learn more about your characters and try to love them. Also, if they just don’t work, cast a difference character. And if all else fails, force yourself to write about them.
6. Warping the Passage of Time. The one I struggle most with. As island-hoppers, we try to write things chronologically. Joe does this, then Liz halfway across the world does this; however, this can get us into a mess.
What causes it? Confusion, firstly. It is hard to track what time of day, what day and what season everything is happening in because of the island-hopping. Also, we are flopping between characters and if so-and- so has to do this by this time, we can’t have another character’s part extending past that time, or we are in trouble. It’s like a curfew almost.
What does it do? It confuses your reader and causes glaring inconsistencies – never good.
How to fix it? Track your passage of time and try to be flexible, but at the same time firm on your character’s curfews. If so-and-so can have that essential conversation the next morning, let the other character stay out late, but if so-and-so cannot, reel the other one in and run to your other character’s conversation. It’s a not-so-simple matter of organization.
7. Insane Chapter Lengths. *cough* The problem with us island-hoppers is that there are no strict chapter divides because our story is written in scenes. Therefore, we have to judge what belongs in what chapter.
What causes this? Well, on my part, it was laziness. My mom told me to divide it into chapters and oh, I divided it. I divided it into 40 page long chapters. I’m fixing it now, but it was bad. Indecision can also cause this. One must also have an understanding of conclusions and what kind of ending is conclusive and what is not.
What does it do to story? With short chapters, it again makes your story disjointed and stick you with 100 1 page chapters. With long chapters, it frustrates the reader and dissuades them from reading your work. If you divide the chapters at random places, then it will irritate and confuse the reader.
How to fix it? Divide your chapters reasonably. Usually no more tan 15-20 pages and no less than 5. It varies from writer to writer, but that is a good general rule. Also, ask your friends where they think the chapters should be divided. They might have more insight than you think.
So, these are the seven deadly sins of island-hopping. They are all interwoven, but they are all extremely detrimental to a person’s story. Watch for these when you write, and I am certain it will improve your islands-hopping story. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and if you have any deadly sins to add, please do. Thank you all for your time.
Hope I helped some of your island-hoppers out!
And now my brain is tired, so I am going to go eat a muffin and do something completely mindless.
Time warp is definitely something to look out for- and often something that you don't notice while you're writing, so you have to hire someone to check it out for you.
but it's a good idea none the less.
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