Telescoping



via potterybarn.com



I shy away from posts about craft because, let's face it, I'm the noob around here...but I wanted to share something I learned from a writing power greater than myself (Tracy Marchini). This one trick she suggested waaay back in my first draft is the single most important thing I learned.

Telescope: Slide one element into another and strengthen the story.

• Telescope scenes to keep pacing strong.
• Telescope characters to create complexity.
• Telescope plot to keep tangents at bay.
• Telescope sentiments to increase tension.

I don't know if telescoping is an official writerly term or anything, but I like it. My secondary character/trickster, Seyhan, was three separate guys at one point. (Talk about a personality disorder, lol!)

Image by yasmapaz & ace_heart via Flickr

At first I couldn't see how to do it, but when I took away individual traits that didn't mesh, it worked out. Very well. So well that I couldn't stop myself from telescoping whenever I found a dry spot in the pacing, a darling floating in a paragraph on its own, a plot twist that needed more twisting... All those things didn't just jumble together either. They became clearer, as if I pulled them in for a closer look. I liken the theory to the Matruska doll of parallel universes. (Today's tie-in. :D) Multiple realities are layered into one whole which is greater than the sum of the parts. (Either that, or I should get out and smell the whatever-is-blooming-right-now. I've been in this chair too long. Do these words look like they're snaking around the page to you?)

Of course, I probably wouldn't have been able to telescope anything if I hadn't first poured it all out onto the page in the unadulterated first draft. I was hoping to avoid this step in my second ms, but now I realize a vital part of my writing process is the exploration of the story in long-hand.

Does anyone have tips on telescoping more efficiently?