In a previous post, I wrote about using all the senses in your writing. If you stick with what your characters can see, hear, feel, smell, and taste, your writing will come alive because you’ll automatically be including elements of a scene.
What is a Scene?
“A scene is an event in the story that takes place in real time, in a real place, like a movie. The action unfolds right in front of us.” — Adair Lara
“A scene deals at length with a relatively short period of time.”— Janet Burroway
“A scene is defined as one action in one time and place.”— Nina Schuyler
Scene Anatomy
A scene contains the following elements:
A specific setting
Characters
A point of view (POV). Who is telling the story to whom?
Significant action that unfolds in real time like a movie.
Sensory details —what one (or sometimes more than one) character is seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, saying.
Brief glimpses into what one (or sometimes more than one) character is thinking and feeling.
Very little summarized action or explanation from the narrator.
“To write a scene, you can’t explain—you have to slow life down … You have to figure out where everybody is, what they’re doing, what they say. ” —Adair Lara
→But every part of your story is not scene-worthy.
When to dramatize events in a scene
Turning points in fortune or outlook
Moments of decision
Confrontations
Intense emotional times from medical crises to chase scenes to falling in love.
“Scenes are for the important stuff—when we have to be right there with you, in the room, and won’t settle for merely being told what happened.” —Adair Lara
When not to dramatize events in a scene
When it’s the same old, same old. The narrator can tell the reader, “Things cruised along like that for a year, until…”
When nothing much is happening, just summarize. “The two friends sat down at the kitchen table with coffee.” Get to the part where new information is revealed, emotions shift, or the drama begins.
Scene Length
A scene can be many pages long or just a few sentences. Mini scenes can give the reader a sense of a character’s voice (if you include dialogue) and/or break up large blocks of text.
Scene Shifts – Something’s Gotta Change
In a scene, as in the whole story, someone wants something and struggles to get it. But something must change or shift during each scene.
Author and educator Jessica Brody considers these the most common types of scene shifts:
· Emotional = a shift in emotion for the character(s) or the tone of the narrative.
· Informational = New information is revealed, or new knowledge is acquired by the character or reader.
· Goal = An old goal ends and/or a new or modified goal is introduced.
· Situation = A shift in the character’s situation or circumstances which changes the direction of the story.
Scene shifts are necessary to keep the story moving at a brisk pace. If every scene has some type of shift, the story will never feel stagnant or slow.
Types of Scenes
Author Jordan Rosenfeld identifies ten types of scenes in her book Make a Scene: Crafting a Powerful Story one Scene at a Time.
These include:
The First Scene, which introduces the main character, his/her/their world and his/her/their problem/desire.
Suspense scenes, which give the reader a sense of impeding trouble for the protagonist (AKA main character or hero).
Dramatic scenes, which exist to elicit feelings in the reader and drive the protagonist to change.
Contemplative scenes, where we slow down the action and focus on the character’s inner life.
Dialogue scenes, where we hear the characters speaking to each other about something important that moves the story forward.
Action scenes, in which the protagonist is doing, moving, running mostly on instinct.
Flashback scenes, remembered moments triggered by current story events that enrich the reader’s understanding of the hero.
Epiphany scenes, in which the hero gains significant insight that changes him/her/them.
Climatic scenes, in which everything comes to a head.
And the Final scene, in which we see the hero transformed, in contrast to where she/he/they started.
You don’t have to include every type of scene in your story but consider having variety.
Are you writing in scenes? Is it easier, harder, not your style?