Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/37398
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I've just read a tutorial about _scenic techniques_ in novel-writing that recommends that a story should have a _rhythm_ of static scenes and dramatic scenes. Here's an excerpt:

> Dramatic scenes are tense and often eventful; something happens – a murder, a car chase, a demand for divorce. But dramatic scenes are not always sensational. They may explore subtle conflict or muted emotion, so that nothing ‘happens’ but everything is highly charged.
> 
> Static scenes contain more ordinary and restful moments, the lulls that occur before or after tension. But static scenes are not frozen like paintings. They should never stall the story or just fill in the moments between events. Their function is to provide verisimilitude and tension release.

The gist is that a novel writer should alternate between dramatic and static scenes to protect the wider story from being either too melodramatic or too dull/cosy.

On an intellectual level (and as a reader), this makes sense, but it leaves me unsure about how to write a static scene that still moves a story forward. So there's my question: **what are the ways of writing a static scene that provides _tension release_ for the reader but still moves the story forward?**

Original score: 13