Teaching Point: Scene
Scene: What is it?
A moment in time where something happens to move the story forward. From Tell it Slant by Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola, “Scene is the building block of creative non-fiction…Scene is based on action unreeling before us, as it would in a film and it will draw on the same techniques as fiction—dialogue, description, point of view, specificity, concrete detail. Scene also encompasses the lyricism and imagery of great poetry.” From Story Engineering by Larry Brooks, a scene must present a dramatic scenario with something at stake. Scenes thrust the story forward and have a beginning, middle and ending. Two types of scene: representative and specific. Representative is a summary of many times, presented in a cinematic scope. IE: Every Sunday, Mother made pancakes and warmed the maple syrup on the stove. Specific scenes are marked by time markers: That day, Sunday, one day, etc. How do you where a scene is? You know a scene based on two factors: change of location, or change in time. Every time you do either, you have a new scene. How to mark a scene on the page? You mark a scene change with a space break or a new chapter. What is required in each scene? Each scene requires you to do set up, locators and basically include most of the elements I’ve outlined in the scene recipe card (below). Use it as a checklist to see if you have included these set up elements of location as well as details of descripton.
· Where are you now? Within your imagination, as you recreate this moment, did you look up, down, right, left, in front and behind you? Note your very practical location in space and time.· Where Are You in the World? Have you, more than once (3 times is not over stating in a larger work) named your city, state, country, streets, stores, restaurants. Have you mapped the geography of your place?· Nature as a Major Character: Have you made reference to the seasons as your story progress and in each scene? What season is it? What is happening with weather, birds, sky, sun, wind? · People & Personality: Did you include the names of everyone, (to include a study of the names of the major characters)? What about the inclusion of habits, mannerisms, speech patterns, attitudes, what people (including you) wear, what they carry with them in form of jewelry, purses, bags as well as their desires, hopes, dreams.· Dialogue: Do your characters speak and do they sound like real human beings? Does your dialogue provide solid characterizations and act in that way in the story you try to tell? · Sensory Writing: Have you included the senses of taste, touch, smell, sound, sight and movement of mind?· Verticality: Are you taking your time to load the above with at least three details that expand/deepen the descriptions? Do you rush past each moment, rather than experience it fully in memory and thus on the page, in order to get to another part of the story? Can you slow down and revisit the above opportunities and deepen with more detail?
1) Do you know where your scenes begin and end? If you don’t, find that beginning and end. 2) Do you know the point of your scene? If you don’t have an answer to that question, find the answer. 3) How many scenes should I expect to write? There is no limit but the average is about 40-70 for a full-length book. 4) Apply this rule: if your story holds together without the scene, get rid of it. If it doesn’t, keep it.
A moment in time where something happens to move the story forward. From Tell it Slant by Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola, “Scene is the building block of creative non-fiction…Scene is based on action unreeling before us, as it would in a film and it will draw on the same techniques as fiction—dialogue, description, point of view, specificity, concrete detail. Scene also encompasses the lyricism and imagery of great poetry.” From Story Engineering by Larry Brooks, a scene must present a dramatic scenario with something at stake. Scenes thrust the story forward and have a beginning, middle and ending. Two types of scene: representative and specific. Representative is a summary of many times, presented in a cinematic scope. IE: Every Sunday, Mother made pancakes and warmed the maple syrup on the stove. Specific scenes are marked by time markers: That day, Sunday, one day, etc. How do you where a scene is? You know a scene based on two factors: change of location, or change in time. Every time you do either, you have a new scene. How to mark a scene on the page? You mark a scene change with a space break or a new chapter. What is required in each scene? Each scene requires you to do set up, locators and basically include most of the elements I’ve outlined in the scene recipe card (below). Use it as a checklist to see if you have included these set up elements of location as well as details of descripton.
· Where are you now? Within your imagination, as you recreate this moment, did you look up, down, right, left, in front and behind you? Note your very practical location in space and time.· Where Are You in the World? Have you, more than once (3 times is not over stating in a larger work) named your city, state, country, streets, stores, restaurants. Have you mapped the geography of your place?· Nature as a Major Character: Have you made reference to the seasons as your story progress and in each scene? What season is it? What is happening with weather, birds, sky, sun, wind? · People & Personality: Did you include the names of everyone, (to include a study of the names of the major characters)? What about the inclusion of habits, mannerisms, speech patterns, attitudes, what people (including you) wear, what they carry with them in form of jewelry, purses, bags as well as their desires, hopes, dreams.· Dialogue: Do your characters speak and do they sound like real human beings? Does your dialogue provide solid characterizations and act in that way in the story you try to tell? · Sensory Writing: Have you included the senses of taste, touch, smell, sound, sight and movement of mind?· Verticality: Are you taking your time to load the above with at least three details that expand/deepen the descriptions? Do you rush past each moment, rather than experience it fully in memory and thus on the page, in order to get to another part of the story? Can you slow down and revisit the above opportunities and deepen with more detail?
1) Do you know where your scenes begin and end? If you don’t, find that beginning and end. 2) Do you know the point of your scene? If you don’t have an answer to that question, find the answer. 3) How many scenes should I expect to write? There is no limit but the average is about 40-70 for a full-length book. 4) Apply this rule: if your story holds together without the scene, get rid of it. If it doesn’t, keep it.
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