An Alphabet of Better Writing # W

W is for...Warp and Weft

...and weavers, who when they are working (so much alliteration), stretch one set of threads across their looms (the warp) so that a second set (the weft) can be woven through it.  When you are weaving this creates fabric, when you are writing it creates texture and tension.

The key thing about warp and weft is that they are going in different directions.  This is what creates the tension. When you are writing something sad, you can give it added depth by locating traces of humour, the faintest watermark, within it. You can counterpoint a high voltage action sequence with a split second of revealing reflection. Within the warp of dialogue, you can have the weft of silence. 

It's not simply a question of contrast - one thing  followed by something sharply different - it's finding a way of integrating two opposites, superimposing comedy on tragedy, or the interior world on the exterior, or whatever.  That's how you achieve texture.  The end result should be like shot silk.