Wicked Wednesday - and action!

One of my favorite parts to write in paranormal romances is the action scene. It plays out like a movie in my head and my fingers fly over the keyboard to bring it to life. It's not that easy, though. There are some important factors you have to remember while writing action scenes.

They're fast-paced. Things are going to happen faster than your protagonist can process them, especially with beings who have supernatural speed. Use short sentences and dynamic verbs. They will convey the urgency and intensity of the situation. No big descriptions. Only key details.

Know where all the characters are at all times. Blocking is vital. Don't try to describe everything. Tighten your POV. The action must be mechanically believable and written with precision. Your reader can easily lose track of what's going on if they can't visualize where the characters are in the scene.

There's a lot of witty banter in paranormal romances. Don't let the dialogue take away from the narrative tension. The less the better.

Make sure you use the psychological tension to your full advantage. How is your protagonist feeling? The panic, surprise, and horror. How do they react to the pain? Keep the stakes high. There's also a heightening of senses when the adrenaline starts flowing. Use them to your advantage in crafting a gripping scene.

Remember that every action causes a reaction. (Newton's third law of motion!) There must always be a follow-through on every level.

Not all action scenes need be fights. There's the chase, the challenge, and the infiltration scenes.

How are you with writing action scenes? What do you do to help you write them?

Wicked Wednesday - the fast-paced novel

What is the key to making your readers not want to put down your book? Pacing. Sometimes it's hard to pinpoint what it is about a book that makes you dislike it. The characters might be intriguing and the plot might be fantastic, but most of the time, the culprit is pacing. It comes naturally to some writers, but for most of us, we have to work at it and keep revising until we get it right.

Many paranormal romances are fast-paced novels. They keep hitting you with one thing after another, keeping the reader on a supernatural thrill ride. A fast pace heightens suspense, mystery, and romantic tension. Your story must pose questions. Some are answered lightning fast and bring up new questions while others are answered more slowly to draw out the intrigue. You must always have the reader wondering and wanting more.

As I've mentioned before on Wicked Wednesday, emotion is key to a good paranormal romance. Not only do you need plot questions to propel it forward, you need character questions. You need characters your readers can relate to, but also ones that are different enough to make your readers think. Plot drives the external pace while characters push the internal pace. The trick is to combine the two in a leapfrogging pattern: plot question leads to character question, plot answer leads to character answer bringing up more questions.

Here are a few tips to pick up the pace of your novel:
- Use shorter sentences and paragraphs.
- Incorporate more action.
- Create more conflict.
- Give your characters various goals and motivations.
- Cut back on internal dialogue and backstory.
- Eliminate scenes that don't advance the plot.

Yet always remember a good novel needs fast and slow scenes. Ups and downs. Too much action can diminish a reader's emotional experience. You don't want to exhaust your reader by going too fast. Pacing may seem like a simple thing, but if you can master it, it's a powerful tool.

There's only one more day to enter to win Cherie Reich's giveaway. Just leave a comment on Thursday's guest post. Cherie talks about running a book blog tour and offers some great advice.