Article of The Month
Scenes
on Fire!
15
Tips to Fire Up Your Scenes
Copyright 2001 by Alicia Rasley
www.sff.net/people/alicia
What is a scene?
A
scene is a unit of action and interaction taking place more or less in
real-time and centering on some event of plot development.
Let's take that apart. The important elements are:
Action– Something is happening! There is movement and progress and change during this time. Where there is action, there is danger of some kind.
Interaction– The viewpoint character is interacting with other characters and/or the environment. This will cause sparks. The interaction will force more action on the viewpoint character.
Real-time– A scene usually takes place in a continuous span of time, with a starting time point and an ending time point. (For instance, "This scene begins when she starts looking for her father, and ends when she learns from the cop that he has been arrested.") This sounds basic, but it's essential. Unless the reader sees the action unfolding (that is, not in retrospect or summary), she will lose that important sense that this event is really happening.
Event– Every scene should center on an actual event, something
that happens– not a dream, not a flashback, not a passage of introspection.
A character is doing something, experiencing something, not just in her
own mind, but in the external reality of the story.
That can mean she's taking an action, discovering a secret, encountering
another character, having a conversation, creating something new, enduring
a trauma– but you should be able to identify what event has taken place
in this scene.
Plot development– Events are important because they are concrete and real and have consequences. Most important, they have consequences on the plot. This event, this scene, should cause a development in the story.
All
this adds up to CHANGE.
SCENE-BUILDER QUESTIONS:
1.
What is going to change in this scene? How will the world of the
story be different when it's done?
In
a romance, also, how will the relationship be different? Think about
the state of this character, this situation, this relationship is in the
beginning of the scene. How are the events of the scene going to
change that state? If they're allies at the beginning of the scene,
for example, scene events might lead them to become at odds by the end.
Remember, change is all-important-- otherwise the scene might as well not
happen.
2.
What is the central event of this scene? How does it affect the overall
plot?
Every
scene should be built around a concrete event which somehow changes the
course of the plot. If you make sure that you have a real event in
each scene, you'll find that your pacing picks up, because there's little
"downtime"-- the characters and the readers are constantly facing change.
3.
Who is the protagonist of this scene?
That
might not be the protagonist of the entire book. Who drives this scene?
Whose viewpoint does the reader share? Who has the overriding goal
and encounters the conflict?
4. Think of the overall external plot conflict. How does it manifest in this scene? (For example, the external conflict is the murder, and she's trying to trap the murderer.) You can improve your pacing by making sure that the external conflict causes some problem in nearly every scene.
5. Think of the overall internal conflict. How does it manifest in this scene? (For example, she is obsessed with the past, so she is prejudiced against Wanda who injured her in the past.) You can deepen your story by making sure that the internal conflict that this character is grappling with develops in nearly every scene.
6.
When the scene opens, what is this character's goal? What does he/she
hope to accomplish during this period of time? What's the agenda?
Example:
"I want to trap Wanda into confessing to the murder. So I'm going
to meet her in a public place so she can't murder me, and I'm going to
ask her a bunch of leading questions, and confront her with my evidence,
and then she's going to break down and confess-- on my hidden tape recorder."
7.
What external obstacles can character encounter in trying to fulfill this
agenda?
Look
for obstacles in the setting, in the antagonist, in allies who won't cooperate,
cars that won't start, etc. These usually don't qualify as conflicts,
but
they're certainly complications, and that can make the scene much
more fun, by testing the character's resolve and resourcefulness.
8.
What internal obstacles is this character likely to encounter in trying
to fulfill this agenda?
For
example, she's a terrible liar, and she's going to have to lie during this
scene. Use the internal obstacles to individualize the character's
response to the scene events.
9.
What goes wrong with the agenda? What happens that he/she doesn't
anticipate?
Think
of the scene as building towards some surprise, something the viewpoint
character doesn't expect.
10.
Does he/she achieve the goal? Bickham's answers:
Yes,
but.... (but something else happens, something unanticipated)
No...
(so they have to try something else)
No
and furthermore... (no, and something even worse happens!)
11.
What is the setting of the scene? Can you strengthen that?
For
example, a face-to-face confrontation is likely to be stronger than a phone
conversation. An encounter in the middle of the state fair as a storm
is building might be more powerful than one in a nice restaurant.
How
can you use the setting to increase the tension/conflict of the scene?
12.
Assemble the basic events of the scene into the most powerful sequence.
Think
of "greater risk"-- the events should require the character to take greater
and greater risks.
(For
example, Meggie has to say more and more inflammatory things to get Wanda
to confess; she has to surreptitiously fiddle with the tape recorder to
keep it running; she has to enlist Mike in her mission even though he's
a dangerous ally....)
13.
Plot the emotional arc of the scene.
Where
does the character start emotionally? (Example: nervous but hopeful.)
How
does that manifest in her actions? (She checks the tape recorder three
times; she starts to imagine the police dragging Wanda away. She speaks
cockily when Wanda appears.)
How
does her emotional state change in response to the events of the scene?
Any emotional change should be preceded by some event or action or realization
that happens within the scene.
How
does this character end up emotionally? It should be different than
how she started. (Now she feels deflated and foolish.)
14.
When you finish the draft, how can you revise for greater power?
Try
reorganizing the events for ascending risk. Find new ways to use
the setting to increase the danger. Make things harder on the character–
try the "near-miss" disaster to create more tension (that is, she almost
gets caught; he almost knocks over the Ming vase but catches it just in
time).
15.
At the end of the scene, what has changed:
–
in the plot?
–
in the character?
–
in the relationships?
Alicia Rasley is a 13-year member
of Romance Writers of America, a writing teacher, and a RITA-award winning
Regency author. She teaches at Painted
Rock Writers Colony.
If you like my articles, check out my interactive writing booklets and plot guidebook:
The Story Within Writing Series
Go to previous articles:
Beginnings, Middles, and Ends: The Purposes
On the Brink: Turbocharge Your Opening
Sharks in the Water: Old Scams in the New Millennium
Lest Ye Be Judged: Contest Judging for Writers
Setting and Character Interactions
The Promise of the Hot Premise
Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes
Mail to Alicia: rasley@juno.com