The Craft of Writing Scenes

By Ronald Wilson


The most ideal way to write a scene is to focus on what the character is doing and how things are getting to progress for them in the overall story. It is helpful to record a few notes before writing the scene to help you plan out what you will need to include.

Among the things to think about before launching into full prose is 'what will change after the scene has been written?' Each scene is a unit of change. Something should happen or change in the story as a result of the scene, otherwise it may not exist.

The next thing you will want to consider is whether or not the scene is crucial to the overall story. If the scene is not essential somehow it should simply be omitted from the story. Writing should be concise to hold the reader's interest, so we don't want wasted words. The scene should serve a purpose in regards to delivering information, emotional impact, or character development.

Following this, we should decide where the scene should occur, and which characters should be present. The more interesting and appropriate the backdrop is, the more impact it will give to the scene. And the characters who appear should only be the ones who serve a purpose in the scene. The fewer characters the better in many cases.

Next, you should incorporate a question into the scene. An intriguing question should be raised at the very beginning of the scene which will grab the reader's attention, and this matter should not be answered until the very end of that scene. This generates tension and suspense, and always keeps the reader turning the pages.

The last thing required before getting into the scene, is to put yourself into the mind's eye of the 'view point' character. Relax and close your eyes and picture you are in their world. See things from their point of view, and immerse yourself into their surroundings. When you accomplish this, you have a more in depth understanding of the details in the scene.

Once all these things are in place, you have a sound structure your scene, and you can confidently go full steam ahead with your writing.




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