3 Questions to Make Sure You Aren’t Missing Out on Important Scenes

Note: I’m taking a break this week, so am posting this shortie instead of the usual post and podcast. Enjoy!

For one reason or another, it can sometimes be tempting to avoid writing certain important scenes. Issues that are difficult emotionally or that we have to expend extra effort to research properly may be issues we’d just as soon write our way around. But doing so is usually a fast and easy way to frustrate readers.

Here’s an example:

In a historical novel I once read, one of the three main characters suffered a serious wound to his leg in a battle. The eventual amputation of his leg left him struggling to re-adapt to life while his two best friends were overwhelmed with guilt over his injury. This is a huge turning point in the story, and yet the author chose not to dramatize the scene in which the character is wounded. The author led readers right up to the battle, then skipped over the crucial moment of injury. The story then resumed with one of the main character’s buddies waiting outside the hospital tent to discover if his friend would live through this wound that readers never witnessed.

Readers never got to see what exactly happened to this character, nor did they get to experience why his two best friends were so remorseful. The author explains their reasoning, but quick summaries just don’t pack the same punch or bear the same weight as a dramatized scene. As a result, this particularly story was drained of much of its potential power and resonance.

Whenever you find yourself wanting to skip a scene, stop for a second and examine your reasons.

Are you summarizing because the scene isn’t crucial to the story?Are you summarizing because it’s a scene of potentially boring details?Or are you summarizing out of fear or lack of discipline?

If your further contemplation suggests this scene is important to the story and contains enough action and conflict to interest readers, don’t let yourself get away with skipping it or summarizing it. Readers want to see the important moments in your characters’ lives, even the painful ones. Otherwise, you won’t be able to effectively portray your characters’ development and the catalytic events and choices that drive them.

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