On his blog, graphic novelist (writer and artist) Garen Ewing talks about what he calls The Three Excitements: Action, Tension, and Comedy.
He advises, try to use at least one in every scene.
You could translate those to "Something's happening!" "What will happen next?" and "Ha ha!" (the latter giving you a chance to vary the pace so readers can catch heir breath--after all, non-stop tension and action are wearing).
I think The Three Excitements is a great tool for rewriting. We can look at each of our scenes and ask ourselves which of the three it represents...and if it doesn't represent any of them, maybe it should.
(How about writing tips from Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut and many more? You'll find them in my book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite book seller.)
