33. Suddenly
The
French comedian Pierre Desproges – sadly deceased – used
to pass editorial comment on his standup monologues as he was making
them. I remember one in which he said 'soudain' – suddenly –
then broke of and told the audience that nothing sudden was actually
going to happen at all. He had only used the word as a dishonest
hook with which to catch the sprat of the audience's attention.
'Suddenly', in fact, he decided to listen to the radio …
'Suddenly' is a word you – as a writer – probably don't need anywhere near as much as you think you do.
As you lay out the imagined events of your story,
your reader checks them one by one. The reader's eye follows the lines
of your text across and down, across and down the page.
If your character boils the water and puts the teabag in the mug, then hurls the mug against the kitchen wall where it smashes into fifty tiny pieces …
Well, that was sudden wasn't it?
'Suddenly' is a stage direction. It's a word you should use only when
your reader needs an extra prompt. And if your reader needs an extra
prompt to understand that this is a sudden and unforeseen interruption
into the anticipated sequence of events, then maybe the structure of
the scene is wrong …
You want it to appear sudden? Don't tell us that it is. Make
it so.
