The Use (And Misuse) of Negative Space in Writing Fiction

I’ve been thinking about how negative space is used in writing fiction.

Here is the use of negative space I’m most familiar with as illustrated by Chekov in his story The Lady With The Dog:

The attitude of Anna Sergeyevna – “the lady with the dog” – to what had happened was somehow peculiar, very grave, as though it were her fault – so it seemed, and it was strange and inappropriate. Her face dropped and faded, and on both side of it her long hair hung down mournfully; she mused in a dejected attitude like “the woman who was a sinner” in an old-fashioned picture.

“It’s wrong,” she said. “You will be the first to despise me now.”

There was a watermelon on the table. Gurov cut himself a slice and began eating it without haste. There followed at least half an hour of silence.

Anna Sergeyevna was touching; there was about her the purity of a good, simple woman who had seen little of life. The solitary candle burning on the table threw a faint light on her face, yet it was clear that she was very unhappy.

“How could I despise you? asked Gurov. “You don’t know what you are saying.”

Chekov uses the watermelon - Gurov eating without haste followed by at least half an hour of silence - as a pause or a representation of time passing where the reader feels the slowness of pace, the awkwardness, how the absence of writing is more meaningful than any other mundane details would be.

Another way to use negative space in writing fiction is with breaks. This is something I haven’t thought about a lot, but I’m starting to consider how to make better use of my breaks.

As Nick Mamatas explains in his book Starve Better: Surviving the Endless Horror of the Writing Life, “scene breaks all but invite an editor to stop reading at the break, so be sure you use them only when necessary and proper.”

Nick goes on to explain “a scene break is thus primarily useful when the break is profound and signaling it is thus very important.”

In other words, don’t put in a scene break between a character waking up and then driving his car shortly afterward. Nick asserts that a scene break does not mean “and then” or “meanwhile.”

Here is an example from Starve Better of when to use carriage returns, scene breaks, and chapter breaks:

“You’ll never take me alive, imperialist pigs!” Joseph shouted, raising his AK.

(two carriage returns)

Later that night, in prison, Joseph tried to enjoy his Salisbury steak.


“You’ll never take me alive, imperialist pigs!” Joseph shouted, raising his AK.

(scene break) #

At Joseph’s funeral, his son, Joseph Jr. vowed revenge on America.


“You’ll never take me alive, imperialist pigs!” Joseph shouted, raising his AK.

(chapter break) II.

Harvey always enjoyed Martyr’s Day. The government not only outfitted him with slightly longer leg irons for the holiday, it also let him eat all the pigeons he could kill as part of their statuary protection program.

Seeing that all the busts of Joseph-Leader, Founder, and Father of all of us-made a more popular toilet than anything else, Harvey wondered if there wasn’t something in the way the bronze of Joseph’s bald head gleamed under the sun.

Negative space is like breathing. How long do you want that breath to be? A short gulp – maybe carriage returns. A deep inhale – maybe a chapter break to show a more significant change.

It was interesting for me to go back and reread some of my stories giving more attention to negative space. It’s fascinating how the use of non-writing can change a story.