Scenes & Sequels – a mini workshop

When I posted in 2009 (and again earlier this week) about the writing books I can't live without, Rob asked if I would go into more detail about Scene & Sequel. If memory serves, the first time I heard the term was in 1993 when I attended the first meeting of the best critique group to ever exist. (You can see a brief snippet of three of us in this 1995 video from CBS 48 Hours.) The ladies I worked with over the next several years were the ones who introduced me to Dwight Swain's book mentioned below.

I actually wrote about scene and sequel in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance. Though the intent of the book is to explain the marriage of sex with plot in an erotic romance, the book spends a lot of time on novel writing basics because the best genre novels follow the storytelling structure readers expect. Here's a snippet from Chapter 8:

Lights, Camera, Action!

I first ran into the concept of structuring scenes in Dwight Swain's wonderful book Techniques of the Selling Writer. Next to Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey, Swain's book has had the most impact on my writing. Not only has it helped me shape my chapters, it also has enabled me to fix most of the pacing problems that cropped up in my work when I began to write.

As I did with Vogler's book, I took from Swain's what resonated with my way of writing and tweaked it until we were a perfect fit!

Let's take a closer look at what it means to write in scenes, and how doing so can improve the framework of a novel.

What Is a Scene?

A scene is a vehicle for delivering the action of a story. Each character in a scene needs to have a goal – one he or she wants to accomplish in that short span of time as opposed to an overall story goal that won't be met until the end of your book. (If the goals of your scene's characters are in opposition, all the better!) Your characters are then thwarted from reaching said goals by some sort of obstacle. (Are you seeing a pattern here? Just as a plot needs characters with goals, motivations, and conflicts, so does a scene.) This conflict results in a scene reversal or other upheaval that makes things worse for your story people while hooking your reader's interest. Whatever the trouble, it keeps her turning the pages, raising questions for her and for your character about what happens next. It's a sure way to build a successful scene!

Each scene you write also needs to act as a puzzle piece and fit into your story's overall arc. Think of a scene as a building block containing its own mini-arc that helps support the larger framework. If you're interested in a more in-depth instruction about the structure of a scene and each of its components, I recommend reading Robert McKee's Story.

What Follows a Scene?

Once you've written a scene, you'll want to write your characters' response to it. This is where a character, usually through an introspective passage, processes what has happened and makes a choice as to what to do next. (If you're reading Swain's book, check out his section on scene and sequel.) Basically, this creates breathing room for your reader. Along with your character, she is given time to digest all that's gone before as well as a chance to observe your character's reasoning process as he considers his options.

I recently read an article that argued that this method of structuring a story was outdated because readers reading in today's fast-paced society don't have time to spend slogging their way through the long introspective pages. Who said anything about long introspective pages? You can convey a character's thoughts in a matter of sentences! Want to see how?

Brandon waited until Rachel stepped onto the subway before scrubbing his hands down his face with regret. He should have waited until tonight to tell her about his trip to Tokyo. Over dinner would've been better, giving them time alone and all. In fact, screw their usual Monday night burgers. She deserved wine and candlelight and her favorite shrimp scampi. They could finish up the conversation then. He bounded up the stairs, pulling his cell phone from his waist to call for reservations.

See how quick that was? You have the response (regret), the predicament solved (finishing conversation over dinner), then the step (making reservations) that propels Brandon into the next scene. Following up an intense action scene or one that is highly emotional with this sort of short break allows your reader a bit of down time, and also creates a way to move easily from one scene to the next.

When doing a search for more scene & sequel info, I came across a wonderful article by Randy Ingermanson. Here's a short piece from his Writing the Perfect Scene:

As we said, the Scene has the three parts Goal, Conflict, and Disaster. Each of these is supremely important. I am going to define each of these pieces and then explain why each is critical to the structure of the Scene. I assume that you have selected one character to be your Point Of View character. In what follows, I'll refer to this character as your POV character. Your goal is to convincingly show your POV character experiencing the scene. You must do this so powerfully that your reader experiences the scene as if she were the POV character.

1. Goal: A Goal is what your POV character wants at the beginning of the Scene. The Goal must be specific and it must be clearly definable. The reason your POV character must have a Goal is that it makes your character proactive. Your character is not passively waiting for the universe to deal him Great Good. Your character is going after what he wants, just as your reader wishes he could do. It's a simple fact that any character who wants something desperately is an interesting character. Even if he's not nice, he's interesting. And your reader will identify with him. That's what you want as a writer.

2. Conflict: Conflict is the series of obstacles your POV character faces on the way to reaching his Goal. You must have Conflict in your Scene! If your POV character reaches his Goal with no Conflict, then the reader is bored. Your reader wants to struggle! No victory has any value if it comes too easy. So make your POV character struggle and your reader will live out that struggle too.

3. Disaster: A Disaster is a failure to let your POV character reach his Goal. Don't give him the Goal! Winning is boring! When a Scene ends in victory, your reader feels no reason to turn the page. If things are going well, your reader might as well go to bed. No! Make something awful happen. Hang your POV character off a cliff and your reader will turn the page to see what happens next.

That's all! There is literally nothing more you need to know about Scenes. Now let's look at Sequels . . .

The Sequel has the three parts Reaction, Dilemma, and Decision. Again, each of these is critical to a successful Sequel. Remove any of them and the Sequel fails to work. Let me add one important point here. The purpose of a Sequel is to follow after a Scene. A Scene ends on a Disaster, and you can't immediately follow that up with a new Scene, which begins with a Goal. Why? Because when you've just been slugged with a serious setback, you can't just rush out and try something new. You've got to recover. That's basic psychology.

1. Reaction: A Reaction is the emotional follow-through to a Disaster. When something awful happens, you're staggering for awhile, off-balance, out of kilter. You can't help it. So show your POV character reacting viscerally to his Disaster. Show him hurting. Give your reader a chance to hurt with your characters. You may need to show some passage of time. This is not a time for action, it's a time for re-action. A time to weep. But you can't stagger around in pain forever. In real life, if people do that they lose their friends. In fiction, if you do it, you lose your readers. Eventually, your POV character needs to get a grip. To take stock. To look for options. And the problem is that there aren't any . . .

2. Dilemma: A Dilemma is a situation with no good options. If your Disaster was a real Disaster, there aren't any good choices. Your POV character must have a real dilemma. This gives your reader a chance to worry, which is good. Your reader must be wondering what can possibly happen next. Let your POV character work through the choices. Let him sort things out. Eventually, let him come to the least-bad option . . .

3. Decision: A Decision is the act of making a choice among several options. This is important, because it lets your POV character become proactive again. People who never make decisions are boring people. They wait around for somebody else to decide. And nobody wants to read about somebody like that. So make your character decide, and make it a good decision. Make it one your reader can respect. Make it risky, but make it have a chance of working. Do that, and your reader will have to turn the page, because now your POV character has a new Goal.

And now you've come full circle. You've gone from Scene to Sequel and back to the Goal for a new Scene. This is why the Scene-Sequel pattern is so powerful.

And that's it! Piece o' cake!

And now I'll give away a copy of THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO WRITING EROTIC ROMANCE. Remember, it's just not about the smexy! Just leave a comment telling me you're interested. You can also comment on the post and NOT be entered. Only those commenters who specifically say they do want to be entered will go into the hat. I'll draw from the pool on Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at noon CDT.