Profluence (noun) – a copious or smooth flowing
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I was re-listening to a Great Courses lecture the other day entitled Writing Great Fiction taught by professor and author James Hynes. The particular episode I re-visited was on the fundamentals of plotting a novel, and Hynes mentioned the importance of profluence in story-telling.
“Profluence” must be a relatively new word because you may not find it in every dictionary. Dictionary.com only has the adjective form “profluent,” but the word has made its way into the online Merriam-Webster dictionary.
However, I couldn’t find the term “profluence” in any of my books on the craft of writing, so I was naturally intrigued.
Hynes credits John Gardner with defining profluence as the feeling you have when you’re reading a novel or short story that you’re getting somewhere. Even if the story isn’t told in chronological sequence, the reader needs to feel the forward momentum.
Specifically, in his work The Art of Fiction, Gardner wrote:
“By definition – and of aesthetic necessity – a story contains profluence, a requirement best satisfied by a sequence of causally related events, a sequence that can end in only one of two ways: in resolution … or in logical exhaustion.”
Along the same lines, in Aspects of the Novel, E.M. Forster defined the singular merit and fault of a story:
“… it can only have one merit: that of making the audience want to know what happens next. And conversely it can only have one fault: that of making the audience not want to know what happens next.”
Professor Hynes had his own take on this concept.
“A work of fiction can only have one merit: that of making the reader want to keep reading. And it can only have one fault: that of making the reader not want to keep reading.”
So we can think of a novel as one scene followed by another, each drawing the reader further into the plot. The goal is always to get the reader to turn the page. Even if the sequence of events is out of chronological order, the author’s job is to create the sense of forward momentum by leading the reader through the story, one scene at a time.
Forster makes one further distinction between story and plot. He defines a story as “a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence.” A plot, though, according to Forster is “also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality.” He goes on to use this illustration:
“The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot.
In the first example, readers will turn the page to find out what happens next. In the second, readers will want to know what happens next and why it happened. That sense of causality adds depth to the story and encourages the reader to keep turning pages.
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As authors, we know we should create stories with interesting characters, a strong plot, and sentences that are well-constructed and grammatically correct. But the notion of profluence seems to move beyond the mechanics of writing and into the way those elements interact to produce the elusive flow that will keep the reader engaged.
In an article on the Writers Unite website, D. A. Ratliff provides several ideas on how to create and maintain that flow. Here are a few of those suggestions:
- Create an intriguing hook at the beginning that will grab the reader’s attention
- Don’t overly describe what’s going on. Let the reader wonder and anticipate learning more in a later chapter
- Use clear language so you don’t confuse the reader
- Use effective transitions. Cliffhanger scene endings will compel the reader to turn the page
- Vary sentence types to create a musical flow
So there you have it. A novel is not just a series of scenes. At its best, it’s a continuous flow of story that’s impossible to put down.
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So TKZers: Have you ever heard the term profluence before? How do you create the flow in your stories to keep readers turning pages? What would you add to the suggestions above?
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KNIGHTS IN MANHATTAN
Reen & Joanie are always moving forward. Whether it’s in dark, secret passageways or running through some of the most famous landmarks in Manhattan, they’re relentless in their pursuit of the bad guys.
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An intriguing word, Kay, and an excellent overview of the meaning and use of profluence in writing. Thank you! I’m curious as to the differences between a similar writing term, narrative drive, and profluence in writing. Your thoughts?
Good morning, Grant, and thanks for the question.
From what I’ve read, narrative drive and profluence are both concerned with the forward momentum of the story. I don’t know if there’s any nuance that makes them different, but I like the term profluence because it brings up an image of the reader riding through the flow of the story. Like being in a canoe on a river without a paddle. 🙂
Have a great week.
What an interesting word, one I’d never heard before. It was interesting to learn it’s from Latin and the first use was in the 1500s…I guess it wasn’t catchy enough to rise above the .01% usage in a million words. 🙂 It sounds a lot like what JSB teaches in his classes and craft books.
Good morning, Patricia, and thanks for checking on the history of the word.
I like that profluence sounds like what it means. And that it’s an essential part of story-telling.
Thanks for this clear definition of profluence, Kay. BTW, “spell czech” put a red line under the word so it doesn’t recognize it.
I learned the term from mentor and former screenwriter Dennis Foley. He quoted Gardner but also emphasized its importance for TV episodes. He wrote screenplays for MacGyver, Cagney and Lacey, China Beach, and more plus movie scripts.
Profluence is what pulls the reader (or watcher) forward through the story.
Or, as Dennis said, it’s what makes the TV viewer hurry back to the show after they went for a snack during commercial breaks.
Good morning, Debbie!
“Profluence” apparently hasn’t made its way into all dictionaries yet, including spell check’s version.
“Or, as Dennis said, it’s what makes the TV viewer hurry back to the show after they went for a snack during commercial breaks.” Great explanation of the term!
Have a great week.
I had not heard the term before this, Kay, but I recognized the meaning at once. It’s something I strive for in my fiction. I tend to call it narrative drive, but that’s something that creates profluence.
Along with your list, I’d add a character readers love to follow, who is emotionally invested in something gives the reader reason to keep following. It can be something huge that’s at risk, or as something intensely personal as a job in jeopardy or the harmony of a family at stake.
Hope you have a wonderful week filled with words!
Morning, Dale.
Good addition of a compelling character to the list of things needed to create profluence. I also like the way you define narrative drive as something that creates profluence.
Hope all your writing flows like a gentle stream this week!
“A rose by any other name … ”
Maybe because I’m more or less “self-taught” in that I never took courses in writing, I’m not big on labels, but the principles make sense.
Hi Terry.
I see what you’re saying, but I like putting a name to something when it encapsulates the principle in a single word. For me, “profluence” sounds like what it means.
I have a couple of audio courses that I like to listen to when I’m out running or exercising at home. They’re both from The Great Courses company:
– How to Write Best-Selling Fiction with James Scott Bell and
– Writing Great Fiction with James Hynes
They both reinforce concepts and even give me ideas while my brain is in the exercise/creative mode. (My favorite, of course, is JSB’s. 🙂 It is full of great advice presented in an entertaining way.)
Another though-provoking blog.
I’d never heard of the word, but the Oxford English Dictionary has, and it’s not used very often. Here’s the OED entry:
“How common is the noun profluence?
“Fewer than 0.01 occurrences per million words in modern written English.
The OED says it’s borrowed from Latin. “The earliest known use of the noun profluence is in the mid 1500s. OED’s earliest evidence for profluence is from 1568, in the writing of Gilbert Skeyne, physician.”
Your blog today definitely changed how common profluence is.