by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
My husband is a regular viewer and fan of The Walking Dead series on AMC.
It’s not the kind of thing I usually watch, but I’ve caught the show with my husband a few times. I know that a lot of writers watch it too, because I’ve see their posts in my blog reader.
Lately, the consensus of most of the posts I’ve read is that the show was dragging a little. That the plot wasn’t moving quickly enough, that there was too much dialogue, not enough action, and that the group of survivors seemed to be bogged down.
My husband just wanted more zombies. :)
But then, Sunday night was the mid-season finale (I didn’t even know there was such a thing) and the pace picked up.
There still weren’t a lot of zombies in the episode, but I didn’t hear any complaints from my husband. The writers had kicked the tension up a notch. I’ll be vague here so there won’t be any spoilers.
How the writers picked up the pace and made things interesting:
They pitted characters against each other in ways that developed the storyline.
They increased the tension by threatening a development that would put the characters at risk.
They added ambiguity to the situation by posing questions that they didn’t immediately provide the answers to.
They added a twist.
They put a character in a situation where he had to act against his own moral code. (Great internal conflict resulting from external conflict).
They added depth to supporting characters by showing other sides to them.
The reviews online from writers I follow were very positive—they thought the episode worked well….even without more zombies.
What do you do when your plot starts dragging?
I don’t watch the show, but I have read other posts regarding the “dragging” problem. I’m glad to hear the writers took care of the problem. When my plots are dragging, I always like to throw in a twist.
Wow I needed this. Sometimes I get the Dragging Plot illness. Is there a vitamin for that? Don’t need it now because of your post.
Thanks for these ideas.
Teresa
Elizabeth – I have to admit I don’t watch that show. But what a great basis for discussing dragging plots! You’ve outlined all sorts of good ideas here, for which thank you. When I find my story’s dragging, something I’ve found can help is to reveal something – some hidden relationship, some hidden secret or motivation.
Those are all terrific ways to increase tension. And writers sometimes just forget about them!
My daughter loves the show, but I am holding out to watch it in order. I have some hesitation that I can care about a zombie show, but it DOES get good reviews.
Great tricks you’ve got. Somewhere around the middle, when I am really engaged with my characters, suddenly I lost my stomach for being rotten to them, but I know how important it is to keep it up. (love the internal conflict one, especially)
I don’t watch the show, but it sounds like they employed just about every trick in the book. Sometimes I hop ahead to write a very dramatic scene that I know is forthcoming, then go back and write the pages leading up to it. Helps with the suspense level.
What an excellent point! This goes to prove that tension can be added without action. Thanks for the great reminder!
Those are great ideas for adding tension to the plot. I like the thought of adding twists to the plot – takes the brain in new directions. :)
What do you do when your plot starts dragging?
I like your husbands idea-add more zombies. LOL
Susan–Twists are fun, aren’t they? I love them, as a reader.
Laura–There really are a ton of tricks like these. Of course, when I started analyzing the show, my husband was shooting me looks!
Journaling Woman–Thanks, Teresa! I think we all have manuscripts that end up with the flu sometimes…dragging, achy…
Margot–Secrets! I love secrets in a book.
Hart–It’s not really my thing, but my husband really likes it. I’ve enjoyed the episodes I’ve watched, but only the non-action parts!
Oh, me too. It seems to cruel to keep tripping our characters up!
Olene–I love writing out of order, too. Good tip.
Critique Sisters–Although zombies would have worked, too! But it’s great not to have to rely on them. :)
Southpaw–For half a second, I considered adding a zombie to my current cozy. :) I must have had a mild stroke.
Personally I think that The Walking Dead’s plot was intentionally slowed. The Question was driven from the first episode. It was left to go “So when are they going to…?” And we were waiting for the characters to choose one way or the other.
The entire six episodes had been building to that moment, putting pressure on Shane.
Yes, they could have chosen to not allow it to drag, but I think it was done to make that twist ending even more significant, since so much effort had been made on the Question.
I’ve DVR’ed the season, so haven’t watched it yet.
I’ve learned not to linger. Not that I lingered much before, but I really move quickly from one scene to the other now.
Dragging plots are a challenge. I think the best thing to do is throw more stuff at your characters–look at their goals, motivations & conflicts and shake them up.
Of course, if it’s a mystery, you can always throw in another dead body.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
I have watched the show, and I have to say it is everything it lives up to what is said about it. It works because the stories focus more on the characters and less on the zombies, whom literally function as walking conflict for the characters.
Regardless, plot drag has become a problem in my story as well. I’ve tried to use two methods to help me out of this narrative funk: Writing from the prospective of character that were previously in supporting role and using a plot twist. I’m writing a mystery so somebody is knocked off.