I like the slow reveal about the Riders, how 1 shows up and then possibly 2, their hissing speech, dogs frightened, and the snuffling. As with every bit we learn about the Ring, stakes are raised around the Riders, building tension. Frodo still thinks that nothing bad can happen in the Shire, and the hobbits are still not being very cautious or in a hurry. We are seeing the protagonist’s current world slowly changing into the new world that’s coming.
Thanks so much, Daniel. This seems to be exactly what I am struggling with in my current Fantasy-Adventure Epos. What I find difficult, is, to decide what to hold back and what to mention or when to mention.
Tolkien’s choice is very interesting here: Whereas he provides quite a bit of background information on all kinds of things in the early chapters, he seems to treat just the most important things very differently: holding back information and building it up very slowly, building momentum, helping the reader to truly grasp with his own senses what is going on. This is genius. I will try and see how to apply this to my own story.
I like the slow reveal about the Riders, how 1 shows up and then possibly 2, their hissing speech, dogs frightened, and the snuffling. As with every bit we learn about the Ring, stakes are raised around the Riders, building tension. Frodo still thinks that nothing bad can happen in the Shire, and the hobbits are still not being very cautious or in a hurry. We are seeing the protagonist’s current world slowly changing into the new world that’s coming.
And where is Gandalf?
Thanks so much, Daniel. This seems to be exactly what I am struggling with in my current Fantasy-Adventure Epos. What I find difficult, is, to decide what to hold back and what to mention or when to mention.
Tolkien’s choice is very interesting here: Whereas he provides quite a bit of background information on all kinds of things in the early chapters, he seems to treat just the most important things very differently: holding back information and building it up very slowly, building momentum, helping the reader to truly grasp with his own senses what is going on. This is genius. I will try and see how to apply this to my own story.
I like this a lot. The writer keeps back what the reader hasn’t been prepared for. Thanks for this explanation.