save readers from boredom
The bored reader is the writer’s worst nightmare. Angry readers we can tolerate—some writers even cultivate them—because anger at least indicates emotional involvement. Boredom, however, indicates only apathy.
The scary part of all this is that we don’t always realize when we’re being boring. I once turned over to a beta reader a handful of chapters full of battles and chase scenes—only to have them returned to me with the report that they were long and boring. Say what?
If scenes in which characters are running and fighting for their lives can turn out boring, imagine what can happen with scenes that aren’t as naturally heavy in the speed, tension, and conflict departments.
5 Signs Your Story Might Be Boring Readers
All of this begs the question: “How do you recognize when you’ve written a boring scene?” Here are five signs that you might need to rethink your approach.
1. The Scene Bores You
As Gail Godwin says in The Making of a Writer, Volume 2:
There were parts of the stories that bored you to write them. (“I’ll just make myself finish this description.”) It didn’t occur to you that if it bored you, how much more it would bore the uninvolved reader.
2. The Scene Is Repetitious
When you’ve covered information in a previous scene, readers will get fidgety if forced to sit through it again. Comb through your manuscript for places where you’ve inadvertently repeated old information or created similar scenes.
3. The Scene Is Too Long.
My aforementioned beta reader explained the problem with my not-so-exciting action scenes was their length. When a scene drags on too long, the excitement is replaced with tedium. If you’re unsure whether or not a scene is too long, it probably is. When it doubt, short and snappy is almost always better.
4. The Scene Is Self-indulgent
We all occasionally write pet scenes that have special meaning to us. Perhaps it’s the vignette that inspired the story to begin with; perhaps it contains some especially brilliant subtext; or maybe it introduces a particularly lovable character. What’s sometimes tough for us to remember is that none of that stuff interests readers. The only scenes that matter to the reader are those that matter to the story.
5. The Scene’s Stakes and/or Conflict Are Low
Stakes and conflict go hand in hand. If one or the other is missing, a scene is guaranteed to fall flat. An argument that doesn’t put something at stake for one (or preferably more) of the characters is pointless—and boring. And even the highest of stakes will grow tedious if all the characters do is sit around and agree with one another about their hopeless plight.
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If you can avoid these five boredom bombs, you can slay reader apathy before it starts and keep them riveted from page one all the way through to the end.
Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! Have you ever forced yourself to write a scene you found boring? Tell me in the comments!
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