What I mean by that is what if a writer wants to write a scene where there might not even be a character in there, or a short scene where the author does not want the character's identity known.
In Killer of Killers, Chapter One, the main Character kills a man in an airport restaurant restroom, and then leaves. And after he leaves, I wrote a scene where all I wanted the reader to know was that someone, (identity not revealed) reaches in and takes the dead man's leather bag. Without actually entering the restroom, that is. So all I wanted to convey was a hand reaching through the ajar door, grabbing the bag, and taking it.
And in the conclusion of Chapter 18, after Trent leaves the scene in a taxi, I keep the reader in that scene where rats are watching the bodies of the men Trent just killed. They are waiting until they think it's safe to have a meal.
The publisher had no problem with either scene. But I wonder what my other publisher would say about them? I suppose the way I wrote it is acceptable, but again, that was with Melange. I'm not sure how Penumbra would take it. Maybe I'll ask. In any case, I rewrote the first scene, and even though I did, the hand is still reaching in without the character's face being revealed. (It's hidden behind the door which is not opened all the way.) It would work in a movie. But I've been told you don't write books the way you would watch a movie.
Still, there are exceptions to every rule. I'm supposing that the described scenes above would be acceptable examples.
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