I wrote a few weeks ago about how even the in between moments in a story can offer opportunities to expand the plot, develop the characters, or some such.  I thought about that more as I posted “On a Sunny Hilltop” this past weekend.  I specifically chose that piece as I wanted something lighter after the violence and death of “End of War” (the “Countless Stars” poem not withstanding).  However, I can’t say that much really happened between the Fey and Bard in that drop.  It was nice o see them have a moment, to see the world a bit through Keto’s eyes, and be reminded that Quartes is just awful at cooking despite centuries of living to figure it out.

However, it reminded me of a thought I had a while back about storytelling, pacing, and engagement.  That thought is the importance of downtime in a story.  I first really dove into the concept of needing downtime when I was playing the indie video game Spiritfarer.  In Spiritfarer you take on take on the role as the newest boatman on the River Styx.  While that seems like dark premise, it’s a lovely and peaceful game that deserves praise for its art and exploration of the importance of relationships and coming to terms with ones past.  However, it does an interesting thing with how travel works.

Most games approach travel as either something that is skipped with a loading screen or which requires active engagement (meaning hitting a key or pushing a joystick to make your character move).  Look to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag where you physically drive the ship in the game and have to stay engaged in that process.  Spiritfarer instead has you select where you want to go and your ship will head there with no additional involvement from you.  The trip though still takes time.  This gives the player downtime to tend to other activities between going to locations to move the story forward. In this downtime the player can garden or craft, they can interact with the various spirits currently in residence on your ship, or even take a moment to go fishing.

That forced downtime is something I hadn’t really noticed in many video games but it does make me think about pacing within stories.  Oversaturation in any media can be a problem.  While action and conflict is certainly fun, and often the means by which many stories move forward, they can be exhausting when done too much without a break.  That break I think is particularly vital because it does several things.  It lets people cleanse their pallet, making them ready to fully enjoy the next big moment.  However, what I think downtime’s particular value comes from is that it gives time for the watcher/reader/player to process.  This is one reason I try not to binge shows, it’s nice to take a break and enjoy what has happened and think about what will happen next.  Reading is by its nature a slower media and therefore primed to have the reader mull over what has happened, what the implications are, and what may happen next.  Thus downtime, helps to get the reader invested.  As the storyteller too it is time to show the characters processing once the dust has settled and the adrenaline of the action has run its course.  I think too much media is afraid of letting the characters have human moments, to give them room to breath and be a part of the world they are in.

All of this is to say that I found it nice to take a break with Keto and Quartes this week and I hope you all enjoyed it as well.  I’ve got a few drop stories in the works right now, plus maybe a 2-3 part story, and I’m not really sure which one I’m going to post next.  I suppose we’ll all find out this Saturday.  Have a good week.

Good forth and do good things,

Sean