Wednesday -- On Plot -- Using Patterns

Plots often involve patterns and patterns can be repetitions. This doesn't mean using the same word over and over or showing the same seene again. We've all seen stories where some action is repeated again and again, like the eating or restaurant scened that really add nothing ot the story but seem to be there to add words. Maybe in days gone by the author was paid by the word and there could be some markets that still use this process but those kind of repetitions slow the story down. People want to see things happening.

So how can repetition of a pattern work. This can be done by choosing an article in the room where the scenes occur or a bit of dialogue that will remind the reader of what has happened before in that room. A repeated emotion also does the same thing.

Patterns are connedtions of one scene to the next. Often this means the same characters and sometimes not. There can be a pattern that's a repetition but with two different characters occurring in the same space or with the same emotions.

Many times in the repetition scene something changes. Maybe it's knowledge for the character or characters. Sometimes the repetition scene has a different outcome.

So build patterns with care and show how each scene in the story is connected to the next one by a clever use of repetition.