Monday, July 7, 2014

Wireforks

Warning: the post was entirely inspired by watching the fireworks. I'm not sure why I'm warning you about this.


Explosions are one of those things that you really don't want to write in a hurry. 


Why?

Because they usually happen so fast that we don't get to experience them long enough to really know what's going on.

So when you're writing an explosion, it's better to take your time with it. You want to really feel it out, to show us every facet of that explosion and how it affects your characters.

Of course, this is only for explosions that are directly related to your narrative. Minor explosions that don't make a difference to anything can be exploded in high speed as with all normal everyday explosions. (...when an explosion becomes commonplace, you know you watch too much Mythbusters)

My suggestions are to ask yourselves questions like...


What does the character involved hear? 


A boom, yes, but what before that? Do they hear crickets? Birds? Is there a ringing in their ears afterward? How do they feel about this? Does this disorient them, and if so, how disoriented are they?

What do they smell? 


Singed hair, smoke, chemicals, etc. If your character is brainy you'll want to know some scientific terminology for those smells.

What affect will this explosion have on what your character is trying to do? 


Were they trying to go somewhere when it happened? Were they expecting the boom? For that matter, did they cause it?

You'll want to consider things on both the inside and the outside, external interests and internal ones. It's the best way to make your explosion more real, by making your readers feel as though they've been through it themselves.


Boom goes the dynamite.

[love]

{RD}

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