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potentially dangerous situations, he is able to bring his characters vividly
to life. As a result, his adventure stories are fast-paced and exciting.
78 / CREATI VE WRI TI NG
MOVINGYOUR CHARACTERS AROUND THE ROOM
As we sawin the section dealing with reaction and interac-
tion, static characters are dull and lifeless. If you are to
breathe any life into them, they must be seen to move about.
In order towrite effectively about a situation, it is not enough
just to visualise the characters, the author must also have a
clear picture of their surroundings. The layout of a room, for
example, the length of a road, the interior of a car.
Minding the furniture
Even when all the characters are seated, they still nod their
heads, shift position, wave a hand expressively. They may
stand up, pace the carpet or make their way into another
room. In order to convey this effectively, you need to know
the layout of not only the room but also the building and
how they can get to where they want to go.
You also need to know where the furniture is placed, how
they manoeuvre around it and how fast or slowly they move.
SPEEDING AND SLOWING THE PACE WITH VOCABULARY
Throughout any story, an author has to increase and slow
the pace in order to gain the maximum effect. This is
achieved by a combination of emotive vocabulary and
the length of the words and sentences used.
Shortening and lengthening the sentence
As a general rule, short words and sentences denote:
anger
urgency
fear
pain.
SHOWI NG NOT TELLI NG / 79
Longer words and sentences denote:
romance
contentment
relaxation
confidence.
You can also use longer, slower sentences to help build ten-
sion as in the following extract from Martina Cole s suspense
novel The Ladykiller:
It was Saturday and George was alone in the house. After
carefullywashingupthebreakfastthingsandputtingthem
away, hemadehimself apot oftea. Whileit brewedonthe
kitchen table hewalked down to his shed and brought back
his scrapbooks.
At first sight, this scene portrays a contented man relaxing in
his home on a Saturday morning. By this stage in the book,
however, the reader is painfully aware of the horrific images
that George s  scrapbooks contain.
Now compare the lengths of both thewords and the sentences
in the above extract with the following passage from the same
book:
The two small boys walked fast. Driving rain was pelting
into their faces. The smaller of the two had red-rimmed
eyes and had obviously been crying. A large clap of thun-
der boomed overhead, followed by a flash of lightning that
lit up the sky.
(The Ladykiller, Martina Cole, Hodder Headline)
80 / CREATI VE WRI TI NG
The pace of the second passage is much faster than the first. In
both cases the reader is in no doubt that something very
unpleasant is about to happen but in the first example,
the character is content and this is reflected in the vocabulary
used. In the second extract, the characters are clearly
unhappy and the vocabulary is short, sharp and threatening.
FLASHING BACK AND FORTH IN TIME
Flashback is one of the most useful tools a writer can use. It:
provides an insight into your characters personalities and
pasts
gives background information
describes the characters and adds substance to the plot
moves the story forward
offers hints or  signposts that history is about to repeat
itself.
Flashing information
Whilst the length of a flashback varies considerably from one
short phrase to a complete chapter, the technique works best
if you simply  flash to a significant incident in the past, then
bring your character straight back to the present as soon as
you have imparted the relevant information.
For example, if the reader is to understand why our TV
presenter, Sally Blake, behaves in a certain way, we need
to give them a few hints about the background to the
story. The flashbacks in the following scene are marked
in italics:
SHOWI NG NOT TELLI NG / 81
 I m sorry Mark, Sally fought back the tears which
threatened to overwhelm her resolve,  It s over. I m leaving
you. I shouldn t have believed your lies about leaving your
wife and children.
Hugging her knees to her chin, she rocked childishly to
and fro for comfort, waiting in vain for his response,  Did
you hear what I said?
 Oh, yes, I heard you.
Sally felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end
as she unclasped her legs and lifted her head to meet his
furious gaze. The last timehe dusedthat tone, theviolence
that had followed had landed her in hospital. Furtively, she
slid sideways across the bed, increasing the distance
between them.
Flashbacks should provide a series of revelations about the
characters which give just enough information to keep the
reader wanting to know more but at the same time, reveal
something the reader didn t know before.
In the above example, the first flashback informs us that
Mark is a married man, the second that he is violent. From
these two snippets of information, we know the background
to their relationship and can predict a negative reaction to
Sally s desire to end it.
Key phrases
Listed below are some key phrases designed to lead you
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