A large shadow was cast over the window next to the front door of my house. I opened the door to find a huge fuzzy bear. I started petting it and rubbing my face on its face calling it fuzzy wuzzy. Always pet the bear. :)
Ha ha! You got me! Well, actually, when we went back up we didn't see them, so I guess the story doesn't have a crazy ending. But it was super weird to see sharks ABOVE me.
Bear at the door! Urgent! Pressing! Needs to be resolved right, NOW! Not knowing this tactics title I've used this technique. Especially in D&D Sci-fi fantasy. Thank You for educating me. Watching, listening, learning!
I wouldn't recommend using the bear at the door technique for EVERY scene. If every scene has a big, looming threat, you'll never give the reader a chance to breathe, and it'll either come off as stressful, or trying too hard. For example, in Harry Potter, the majority of the scenes are the trio attending classes, chatting, doing homework, or other things. The plot still advances, and interesting things still happen, but there's still a lot of peaceful and casual moments that make the tense, serious parts hit harder.Also, speaking of Harry Potter, the "I must not tell lies" part was only in the movie. It was really good though, and was one of the only things I think the movie did better than the book.
As for Bear At The Door, I once found myself bored silly by a fantasy novel which had one BATD scene after another. It reminded me of a video game. I liken scenes to sentences in a paragraph. Variation makes for more interesting reading.
Great comment. I've found lots of writing advice that is similar to the BATD, basically focused on keeping the reader flipping pages by keeping things intense and urgent. Personally, I don't like every scene in a book dialed up to 10 (Giant Rune Bear knocking on the bathroom door while I'm taking a dump.) Still great advice, and good to think about what the protag is chasing and what the conflict will be in each scene, but most applicable if you love thrillers I think.
There is an amazing freshness and uniqueness in your podcasts that towers above the hundreds of good videos on writing. The only other podcast that reaches the peak of excellence is the Oxford wr bus ticket.. please keep doing your videos which will help some of us writers to come out of the shadows to make the world recognise our laidback brilliance.
You've made me think about where to replace Avon ladies with bears in my draft. Thank you! On a less important note, where can I find your cool t-shirt?
