Thoughtful Thursday: Descriptive Scenes

Thoughtful Thursday

It is time for Thoughtful Thursday and the bookish questions that pop up while I am reading. Please share your thoughts on the bookish question of the week. I am curious to hear what you have to say! There are no wrong answers. Questions about Thoughtful Thursday or future Thoughtful Thursday posts? Check out my Thoughtful Thursday section. Alright, on to the question!

Note: I am sorry that I haven't gotten next month's Thoughtful Thursday posts up. They will be up soon!
 
How descriptive action sequences and/or romantic situations are usually depends on the author. Some authors spend several pages describing an action or romantic scene while others describe this situations in a few paragraphs or less. What is your preference?

This question occurred to me after reading a book in which the action sequences were super short. I wish I could remember the book, but I can't anymore. Anyway, the book was billed as an action/thriller/adventure novel; however, all of the action sequences took less than one page to complete. I remember thinking to myself, "seriously?" What is particularly interesting about the fact that I reacted this way to this book is that normally I glaze over action sequences. You would think that I would be super happy about a short action sequence, but in fact I was annoyed by this.

After thinking about this for a little bit, I think that I want the action sequence to be at least a few pages (if it is supposed to be a lengthy event) even if I don't read every line, because I want that passage of time to occur as I (at the very least) glaze over the text. That probably doesn't make any sense, huh? What I am trying to say is that a four-sentence paragraph takes no time to read. If the action sequence is four sentences long, it will feel like the fight lasted two seconds and the action/event feels unsatisfying. If the action sequence is 30 sentences, that sequence is going to take a bit longer to read, even if I don't read every word. The even is going to feel longer. I usually feel satisfied that the action "took the right amount of time." In the end, I want that big, final fight scene with the protagonist and the villain to take the perfect amount of time and feel appropriate. I don't want the scene to drag on, but I also don't want the scene to be done before I blink.

While I prefer slightly shorter action sequences, I definitely prefer longer romantic scenes in romance novels. In non-romance books (e.g., noir mysteries), I prefer my romance scenes to be sweet and short. This is because I tend not to like romantic scenes written from the male POV; this is an entirely different can of worms from today's question though. Anyway, when I sit down to read a romance novel, I want to read romantic scenes. It is the reason that I picked up the book in the first place. The longer the scene, the better. I should note though that more than the length of the scene, I need my romance scenes to make sense. Sometimes I read romance novels and the intimate scenes seem to be occurring between two aliens who appear human, because the two individuals got themselves into positions that don't seem anatomically possible. Nothing pulls me out of a romantic scene more than thinking, "how was he able to get his hand there in that position?"


Now it is your turn! How do you feel about descriptive scenes?





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