Scene Transitions

As part of my revisit basics of writing while I pick away at my second novel, I started to explore scene transitions. In early drafts of HOST, scene transitions were not intentional for me. I think some aspects and points I hit naturally, simply from reading books you pick up on patterns of how information is presented. With scene transitions it’s about reorienting the reader in the POV for the chapter or scene, letting the reader know which character we’re now following. When are we? If there is a significant time jump the reader should know as to not totally confuse them (unless it’s intentional for a reveal), and where are we? Letting the reader know the setting, describing it based on the character POV, and so they have a visual sense of the world around them. Those are the key elements to keep a reader grounded but there are other aspects like tone or mood that can change with scene transitions, something I’m intentionally thinking about now when writing, among others. In an episode of Writer Syndrome, Tim and I get into scene transitions, being intentional with them, and what aspects are key to keeping a reader engaged.