When you write a story—short, novel or memoir—we can always improve our approach to writing scenes.
Writing Tip for Today: Let’s discuss ways of writing better scenes.
Find the Why
If you aren’t sure why you’re writing a scene in your story, the characters may not be able to advance the story. By that I mean your characters are going to wrestle with a problem, one that makes readers ask, “And then what happened?”
If readers can’t get a feel for why the scene is in the position it is in the story, they may decide that your story is either marching in place or that it is weighted toward the back story. Too much back story lumped in one place can make readers wonder why the story isn’t set in that back story instead of in its current time format.
To find the why of a scene, ask yourself what is standing in the way of the character achieving a goal. But first, know what the goal is. Readers need to know what the character is striving for, both in the overall story and in each scene. When you identify the goal, you can present a worthy adversary. Goal+ Obstacle= tension for a winner/loser in every scene.
Find the Way
Scenes unfold in diverse ways. Some are more introspective, with psychological or emotional conflict at the heart. Others are high-action physical confrontations. With both of these types of scenes, be sure you’ve chosen the best way to act out the scene.
Limit your introductions—give setting and time and then let the characters vie for what they want. Get your characters moving, even if the conflict is mainly dialogue. Readers imagine more scenic detail when the characters move within the scene.
Learn to insert micro-tension in every scene. Use your character’s inner thoughts to show attitudes and tension. Let characters react in ways that readers don’t expect. Vary the settings—get your characters out from behind tables.
Determine stakes by using the So What? Test.
Find the Fire
If your scenes contain a solid why and interesting ways to act out the story scene, you still need a crucial element. Emotion is the key to hooking readers and keeping them hooked. Unless readers care about the outcome of each scene to propel them to the next scene, the story may falter.
Emotion can be much more than gasps and fist-clenching. In fact, too much physical emotion pushes stories into melodrama. Learn to portray emotion by using Deep POV, characters’ inner thoughts and by making sure the stakes of the story are high.
Determine stakes by using the So What? Test. If your character fails to reach the story goal, what happens? Rachet up emotion by keeping the consequences of not reaching the goal as important as possible. Remember, fiction and memoir live (or die) by how much you are able to elicit an emotional gut punch.
