Forum: Story Recommendations

A few paragraphs that acknowledge a daily life and routine that does not include hyper-focus needed kinda drama/situations?

Alfred Hitchcock said drama is life without the boring bits.

From the lesbian side, Janna Leonard does this with most (all?) of her stories. Things happen, but part of the things that happen are just life.

I have enjoyed Reading since I was a little kid. I have always enjoyed stories that vary the pacing.

I was, maybe ten-years-old, when I read a book about a Ship's Boy on the Perry Expedition to Japan in the 1850's. Descriptions of calm seas, or the monotony of the food, interspersed with descriptions of storms, or the forbidding shore of exotic Japan, "Upped the Stakes" of dramatic moments, because I got a feel for the varied nature of life at sea on a sailing ship.

Louis L'Amour is very good at this. Most of his stories are shorter (many of his Westerns are only 150 pages, when others in the genre are 250+). His stories aften start "Fast and Furious" with the MC getting shot at, or tossed off a train, etc. but in every story I can think of there are times when the MC enjoys "Gazing out upon a placid lake in a beautiful isolated valley." or "Appreciating the vast sweep of a lush prairie speckled with blue bonnets, and a majestic mountain range in the distance."

I enjoy the vivid descriptions of the rugged yet spectacular vistas, of the American West, but also the Caribbean, and even small towns in Europe.

About fifteen years ago, while in norther Italy (Sud Tyrol) I had the oportunity to get a coffee in a cafe that is described is on of Louis L'Amour's books. He was probably there in the 1950's, the scene was set c.1880's, yet it seemed little changed. (In the book, a couple paragraphs later, the MC has to cross the Alps to avoid a duel with a dangerous aristocrat, where even if the MC won, he would lose."

Two movies that I think are better than a "constant Rash movie, such as the John Wick" franchise are:

Aliens and Saving Private Ryan.

Aliens: we are shown the caraderie and familiarity of the enlisted Marines with each other as they wake up, eat breakfast, and prepare; we are also shown that Lt Gorman, Ripley, and Burke (Corporate Rep) are Outsiders. Tensions build, during the drop, and then as they begin to search the colony. Discovery of the "Face Huggers" in the lab might seem to be a "let down" (unless you know what Face Huggers are) then tension builds as the Marines penetrate the Hive, and the intial firefight! After the crash of the dropship, there is another lull, as they fortify and prepare to wait for rescue, and Cpl Hicks teaches Ripley to fire the M41.
There is a "false plateau" as Bishop flies the survivors out of danger and back to the Sulacco.

I believe that the lulls, and humor, make the action scenes even more dramatic and intense. People can only be tense for so long, then they become at least somewhat numb to everything.

Saving Private Ryan, the tension builds in the landing craft heading for shore... I could smell the deisel fumes, sea water, vomit, and sweat! Then the intensity of the landing upon Omaha Beach!

There are various lulls, from Captain Miller consripting Upham, to walking through the fields of flowers, and the banter of the troops. During lulls the colors are brighter, and more intense, during combat more washed out and grainy.

We have lulls where we learn about Miller before he was a soldier, or Ryan reminiscing about his brothers.

The Grim Reaper and other stories do this well, IMHO.

I am not sure if my own series, Variation on a Theme, counts or not, but it feels like it counts. The entire story thus far is told day-to-day, with relatively mundane events side by side with significant drama. There are 'travelogue' chapters; there are chapters with large emotional beats.

And there's a lot of introspection, starting at the start. It's a Do-Over, and the MC starts off by consciously deciding his priorities are much more concerned with things like 'leading a good life,' 'being a good person,' and 'making up for missed opportunities' than with using 'future knowledge' to get rich and powerful. Rich and powerful may happen, but doing it right and for the right reasons is a major concern.

Art gets some call-outs. So does nature, architecture, math, science, and other things.

Might fit, might not, but it feels like a candidate to me.

There is certainly more art appreciation than physical confrontation in the first book, but both make appearances. And I wouldn't say there's much of an escalation in physical confrontations in the remaining books, though they do happen, life being life.

On the other hand, I'm not the strongest author at painting vivid pictures of things. Interior philosophical dialogue, and the same between characters? Good with that. Jump-out-at-you descriptions? So far, I lean much more toward giving just enough that the reader can paint their own picture of the scene.