Paul Whybrow
Full Member
- Jun 20, 2015
Wikipedia defines a digression as a section of a composition or speech that marks a temporary shift of subject; the digression ends when the writer or speaker returns to the main topic. Digressions can be used intentionally as a stylistic or rhetorical device.
Subplots are not digressions, for they support the main thrust of a story. Digressions slow progress, redirecting the reader's attention to details whose relevance is uncertain.
I've recently read a couple of thrillers in which the author wandered off on digressions that had me wondering where they were going and when would they get back to the action? Erik Storey's Nothing Short of Dying is the first in a series with a plot involving a mercenary rescuing his sister from the clutches of a drug lord. Their shared backstory of killing an abusive stepfather explains their tight bond, while memories of warfare and imprisonment prove what a tough dude the protagonist is. There was so much journeying into the past, that I started to forget where I was in the ongoing story.
Paul Doiron's The Bone Orchard is the fifth in a series featuring a rebellious game warden in Maine. He attempts to find who shot a former colleague, which involves long digressions into the politics of the parks department and previous conflicts with poachers. Some of these incidents took place in previous stories, but the exposition felt like grave robbing to pad out the narrative.
I've written a series of stories featuring my Cornish Detective, so I'm well aware of the need to go off at a tangent sometimes, to strengthen a story arc. If I don't explain my protagonist's attitudes to art, immigration, violence against women, child abuse, gun control and conservation, with supporting digressions about real-world events, then he'll come over as robotic.
Famous authors sometimes went into rambling digressions, including Charles Dickens, Marcel Proust, Herman Melville, Victor Hugo and Leo Tolstoy. More recently, John Fowles in his best-known work The French Lieutenant's Woman leaves the story to pontificate on subjects such as Darwin's theories on evolution; an entire chapter discusses the author himself and the role of the novel. Fowles even tells the reader that he'll be offering two endings—and indeed he does—perhaps the ultimate digression. It's a prime example of metafiction—which runs the risk of being self-indulgent and disappearing up its own arse!
There's a lot to be said for simply getting on with the story. Just because an author is interested in something doesn't mean to say it should be chatted about in their novel. Some genres encourage digressions, such as History, Fantasy and Science Fiction where worlds are built. I really enjoyed Robin Hobb's The Farsee Trilogy which needs lots of digression to explain the characters' backstory, the geography, culture and economy of different regions to immerse the reader in that world. Tolkien adds to the atmosphere of Middle Earth with frequent digressions in The Lord Of The Rings, sometimes with the characters singing about legendary characters....an aspect of the books that didn't make the movies.
In my chosen writing genre of Crime, there are some authors whose digressions are part of their style. James Lee Burke often meanders into the Louisiana swamp, through the internal dialogue of his protagonist Dave Robicheaux as he contemplates historic scenes of slavery and combat in the Civil War. Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano stories neatly handle digressions with an appendix giving details of the food that Salvo Montalbano relishes, as well as historic incidents in Sicily, including battling the Mafia.
I've pondered doing something similar with my Cornish Detective stories to reduce stodginess in the narrative; eBook versions could use hyperlinks, though that makes the text unattractive.
Digressions become problematical when they're information dumps, where the writer shows off their knowledge of a subject. It stalls forward motion of the story. An author's comments might add humour, which some readers will like, while others may resent such a breaking of the fourth wall—if they're lost in your story, they don't want reminding that it's not real.
Do you get lost in digressions when writing?
In my recent editing marathon of five novels, I removed or at least pruned several digressions.
If you write Fantasy stories how many digressions do you include...recipes, costume, superstitions, genealogy, sociology?
Subplots are not digressions, for they support the main thrust of a story. Digressions slow progress, redirecting the reader's attention to details whose relevance is uncertain.
I've recently read a couple of thrillers in which the author wandered off on digressions that had me wondering where they were going and when would they get back to the action? Erik Storey's Nothing Short of Dying is the first in a series with a plot involving a mercenary rescuing his sister from the clutches of a drug lord. Their shared backstory of killing an abusive stepfather explains their tight bond, while memories of warfare and imprisonment prove what a tough dude the protagonist is. There was so much journeying into the past, that I started to forget where I was in the ongoing story.
Paul Doiron's The Bone Orchard is the fifth in a series featuring a rebellious game warden in Maine. He attempts to find who shot a former colleague, which involves long digressions into the politics of the parks department and previous conflicts with poachers. Some of these incidents took place in previous stories, but the exposition felt like grave robbing to pad out the narrative.
I've written a series of stories featuring my Cornish Detective, so I'm well aware of the need to go off at a tangent sometimes, to strengthen a story arc. If I don't explain my protagonist's attitudes to art, immigration, violence against women, child abuse, gun control and conservation, with supporting digressions about real-world events, then he'll come over as robotic.
Famous authors sometimes went into rambling digressions, including Charles Dickens, Marcel Proust, Herman Melville, Victor Hugo and Leo Tolstoy. More recently, John Fowles in his best-known work The French Lieutenant's Woman leaves the story to pontificate on subjects such as Darwin's theories on evolution; an entire chapter discusses the author himself and the role of the novel. Fowles even tells the reader that he'll be offering two endings—and indeed he does—perhaps the ultimate digression. It's a prime example of metafiction—which runs the risk of being self-indulgent and disappearing up its own arse!
There's a lot to be said for simply getting on with the story. Just because an author is interested in something doesn't mean to say it should be chatted about in their novel. Some genres encourage digressions, such as History, Fantasy and Science Fiction where worlds are built. I really enjoyed Robin Hobb's The Farsee Trilogy which needs lots of digression to explain the characters' backstory, the geography, culture and economy of different regions to immerse the reader in that world. Tolkien adds to the atmosphere of Middle Earth with frequent digressions in The Lord Of The Rings, sometimes with the characters singing about legendary characters....an aspect of the books that didn't make the movies.
In my chosen writing genre of Crime, there are some authors whose digressions are part of their style. James Lee Burke often meanders into the Louisiana swamp, through the internal dialogue of his protagonist Dave Robicheaux as he contemplates historic scenes of slavery and combat in the Civil War. Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano stories neatly handle digressions with an appendix giving details of the food that Salvo Montalbano relishes, as well as historic incidents in Sicily, including battling the Mafia.
I've pondered doing something similar with my Cornish Detective stories to reduce stodginess in the narrative; eBook versions could use hyperlinks, though that makes the text unattractive.
Digressions become problematical when they're information dumps, where the writer shows off their knowledge of a subject. It stalls forward motion of the story. An author's comments might add humour, which some readers will like, while others may resent such a breaking of the fourth wall—if they're lost in your story, they don't want reminding that it's not real.
Do you get lost in digressions when writing?
In my recent editing marathon of five novels, I removed or at least pruned several digressions.
If you write Fantasy stories how many digressions do you include...recipes, costume, superstitions, genealogy, sociology?
