Literary Agent DongWon Song - Thread on Speed and Impact (condensed by me for easy reading!)

Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/dongwon/status/888106589428764675

Edited and formatted for your reading pleasure below:

I've been doing a lot of close work on manuscripts recently and my brain has connected a few dots I wanna share. A.K.A. it's a Craft Thread!

First thing I want to bring up is that reading is a cognitive experience, same as anything else. Brains process information into feeling. A really common mistake I see is that the author, saturated in the details of their world, doesn't give enough time for readers to absorb.

Which brings me to this film essay I love a lot about the legendary Sammo Hung's action direction style.

The point that really stuck with me from this essay is the balance between speed and impact that makes Sammo's work so much fun. Focusing on speed is driven by a love of technique. It's driven by cleverness, and a desire to get your work in front of the reader. Impact, though, impact is the reward. Impact is where the reader gets the emotional payoff of a scene. Impact is the why of your story.

Sammo, when directing, will often show the blow, the punch or the kick, and then cut to show the impact. You actually see the strike twice. A strike and impact at once is too fast for us to cognitively process. We need to see the consequence separately, and properly framed.

You can also see these techniques used in this incredible stunt breakdown from Atomic Blonde. Also this one from John Wick 2. (Side note, I could watch 2nd Unit Directors talk about their work all day long. I love hearing good crafts people talk about technique.)

Anyhow, it's a really common mistake among writers to think that slowing down in these beats is "cheesy" or unnecessary. But over and over again I see some of the best in the game use this exact trick. Strike, impact. Take a beat for the reader to process.

You can see it in V.E. Schwab's action scenes. The knife goes in, the blood comes out, everyone just kind of freeze frames for a second. Or N.K. Jemisin's orogeny. It happens very fast, but she takes time to show us the ice form, the volcano building. So we can feel the horror. I mean, really the whole book is about showing the impact, but you get what I'm saying. Hopefully.

Anyhow, my advice is to look for these beats where a scene turns, or a whole plot pivots. You'll see them on screen and on the page equally. That breath between strike and impact. Between action and reaction. Between decision and consequence. Your whole story hangs in that moment.

My advice is to embrace that moment. Draw it out and let the reader put pieces together before you show them what they've already realized.