One word that readers use a lot to describe my books is “cinematic.” I take this as a good thing, since it usually means that the books are easy for them to visualize, which means they’re really in there, with the characters, immersed in my world.
One technique I use to achieve this came to the fore this past weekend. I mentioned before that I was starting an “action” section of the novel, and in this case I mean “action” in the usual sense: a set piece with lots of moving parts.
Whenever I have such a scene, whether it’s a fight, a chase, or a battle, I always find it helpful to map out the action. I’m a very visual person—I can process information faster through a picture than I can via a block of text—so sketching out my scene on paper is a great help. I am not good at drawing, so we’re not talking masterpieces here. We’re talking about line drawings, sketches that block out the basic elements (see example). But even this rudimentary type of drawing is enough to do a couple of important things.
Another chapter down.
A word about pacing.
Before I started to write, I studied music. Classical music, ancient music, and modern; in orchestras (symphonic, chamber, and pit), in bands (marching, symphonic, jazz, and swing), and in trios, quartets, and quintets; as a student, as an amateur, and as a professional; as a violinist, a violist, on the tuba (Sousaphone and miraphone), with bass guitar, on percussion, and as a conductor: I did it all. For the first three decades of my life, music was my sole creative outlet.
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 