New writers often struggle to get the right words on the page and in the right place. This is a skill that simply takes practice to perfect. There are several different types of gaps that can appear in your writing. These are generally handled in the editing stage, especially when considering gaps in plot and character motivation. Gaps in action are fixed in edits too, but these types of problems are something that you’re going to want to train yourself to avoid as soon as possible. Once you learn to write scenes with continuity, you will be a stronger writer overall.
Many new writers have the tendency to skip things in the natural flow of a scene. For example, two characters will be talking at school, then one of them is suddenly at home. Study the following example:
This passage has several gaps. First, Julie offers Megan a ride home, but we never see the girls leave the school or get into a vehicle. We don’t see the vehicle move. There is no mention of time passing. Suddenly, Megan is in her house, taking to her mom. It feels like Megan suddenly teleported home.
It’s okay to write these kinds of drafts if you’re excited to get a scene down, but if you train yourself to give the right kinds of details in your first drafts, you’ll save yourself a lot of editing time.
How much information to add depends on your goals for the scene. You could make the car ride home as short or as long as you want. It depends on your goals. If the ride home isn’t important to your story, simply skip that time with a quick transition sentence. That could look as short as this:
Or maybe you have reason to give some details about what kind of car Julie drives. Perhaps that detail is important to your story, so you write a little longer transition.
If, however, you need Julie and Megan to have time to talk, you can lengthen the scene. Maybe you need them to get to know each other. Or maybe one knows something the other one needs to learn. In that case, letting them talk during the drive can be a good use of a ride home from school. Since this scene will be longer, I want to show the movement of the car and the passing of time. Take note of the phrases below that are underlined. Those details were added to show time and movement.
One other method you can use to skip time if you need to is to use a scene break. Simply center some asterisks to mark the end of a scene, then start your new scene.
So, those are a few ideas to help you with gaps in your writing and showing the transition of action and time with continuity.
Do you struggle with leaving gaps in your writing? Share in the comments any tips or questions you might have.
Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms, and the author of several young adult fantasy novels including the Blood of Kings trilogy. She loves teaching about writing. She blogs at goteenwriters.com and also posts writing videos on her YouTube channel and on Instagram. Jill is a Whovian, a Photoshop addict, and a recovering fashion design assistant. She grew up in Alaska without running water or electricity and now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two kids. Find Jill online at jillwilliamson.com or on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Thanks for this post, Ms. Jill! While editing, I realized that I had entire chapter gaps where I skipped to my midpoint twist too fast. So, I definitely have to go back and fix those. This post will help me a lot. Thanks again!
You are very welcome. This happens to us all, so no worries. You just want to train your eye to be able to spot it in your stories.
I seem to underwrite, so often my scenes are very short and quick. I think this will help me beef up my scenes and with knowing when to show or tell.
Thanks!
You’re welcome! I underwrite too, Bethany. 🙂
Same here! I’m just so excited to get to “The big finale” that I skip all the boringness and try to get straight to the action!
And that’s why I’ve never been able to finish reading Anne of Green Gables. ?
Same! I feel like I underwrite everything!!!! I had an awesome action scene that I loved and I had so much fun writing…then I realized it is only one and a half pages long. It isn’t too bad, but I need to go back and and in more “time fillers”. ?
I was just ready one of my (very) old drafts that I trashed, and wow, that thing had issues. It skips days, the brother’s name changes, it’s prom night, but wait, no it’s not, she’s on the phone, they’re talking in person, blah blah blah…
That was one paragraph. One. ?
I tend to hint at things and never go through with them, so I really need to edit that. Thanks for the post and examples!
You are so welcome, Ally. We all have those kind of stories. It’s so great that you can look at it now and see so many ways you’d do it differently now. That’s awesome.
Lol, that’s funny. I used to write these little comics that I called “Sister Girls” (it was about these like, 20 or so girls that were all sisters) and there were ALWAYS alot of gaps between things. And on one page they had their hair in a bun, and another page they had their hair in a braid. How we all write those things is a mystery.
This is helpful, Ms. Jill, thank you! I definitely have some gaps I need to go back and change in my WIP. There are parts where my MC about to hop onto his dragon to get away, but then suddenly he’s at his best friend’s house, and there’s one part where some riders are escorting the king, but then they’re gone and even I don’t know what happened to them. I’ve noticed there are bits in my story where I need to do some relationship building for the upcoming scenes to work.
Ah, the pains of being a writer, lol. But still it’s sooo fun! ?
Sooo fun! I’m glad you’re starting to see those gaps, Riley. 🙂
I recently entered the editing phase of my WIP, and I do have quite a few gaps to work with. This will definitely help me smooth the transitions and flesh out thinner parts to make the book more cohesive. Thanks!
Thank you for the post, Ms. Williamson!
This is something I often overlook, but it’s so important, thank you!