What is a SCENE?
As in movies or the stage, a scene is a certain time and place with characters meeting for a specific purpose. This purpose is better if it involves conflict or dramatic tension. Think ACTION, where people move, act and speak. If you write using scenes, your readers will be able to experience the story, not just be told about it.

As you learn to write in scenes, you will also add in narrative sequel. Narrative sequel is the viewpoint character’s thoughts, beliefs and feelings. Pacing is the length between scenes. If you have your character “thinking” too much, your reader craves action. If your character goes from one scene to another with no internal information, the reader can feel breathless and/or that the story lacks depth.

Here are the Eleven Elements of a Scene:
Characters
Purpose (why are the characters here?)
Point of View (who’s telling the story?)
Setting (where are we?)
Time boundary (when are we?)
Quality of Light (morning, dark, stormy, bright?)
Sight
Sound
Smell
Touch
Taste

Writing Tip for Today: Write a scene from your story. See how many of the eleven elements you can include.