Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Wednesday -- On Plot - Mirroring

Another device to ise is called mirroring. This is to take a scene and show it again, sort of. The characters may change, the setting may change, the purpose may change, the time may change. One crucial element is different

Lines of dialogue may be used in a mirroring fashion. End a scene with one character saying something and have the next scene open with a different character using the same or similar lines.

An action or a description can be repeated. This can be something that happened earlier in the story that one of the characters remembers and thinks about.

There can be two disputes that are the same say over money or something similar with different actors presenting the problem.

Using similar imagery can also help mirror one scene into another.

Having the same polarity in the two scenes such as rebellion against authority, pleas for forgiveness or other such thing. Just remember one element should be different.

1 comment:

Carol Riggs said...

Hey! Very interesting. I used mirroring in chapter 1 of my next-to-last novel. I started the chapter counting up, and ended the chapter counting down--for very different reasons. I liked bookending the chapter that way. :)