I tend to write my stories in a way I’d describe as… let’s use the word “utilitarian.” Every page, every panel, every line of dialogue needs to push the story along. There’s no distractions, there’s no extra fluff, it’s clean and to the point.
As a result of this, while the story is concise and my message is clear, things might end up maybe going just a little too fast. If I’m not careful, the pacing tends to move a bit too quickly and can be almost exhausting to keep up with. To help with this, you need to take a break. Every good story has it’s ups and downs. High action scenes, bursting with conflict and the highest of stakes, are always punctuated by cool-down periods. Scenes where maybe we’re walking the plot forward, rather than full-out sprinting.
Here’s an example of one of the very, very few “filler” pages from LOOK.
I call it a filler page because it does little to nothing to actually advance the story. But if you notice where it’s placed in the narrative, you’ll see that it’s sandwiched by a tense escape scene on one side and the sudden resurfacing of the antagonist on the other. It’s a bit of light-hearted fun intended to give everyone — the readers and characters themselves — a bit of a breather. I also really like that we get to see a bit of back and forth between these two, a little glimpse into how their friendship works.
Moments like these, where the action and drama of the narrative ease back a bit are essential to the overall rhythm of any story. It’s like a roller coaster. You can’t have that dramatic fall without the slow climb, or a joke about a self-conscious vulture.
Even if you’re a robot.
