Directing The Scene

[Michael]

Been asking this one around because I've been watching a lot of interviews between directors and all those behind the scenes workers. Just the craft about movie making. So I'm curious,

what everyone's process is for writing their scenes. What do you all do to help write what's going to transpire, be it dialogue, action, setting the tone, etc.

How do you imagine the rooms, the setups, angles that you're portraying your characters and the like? And how do you keep track of what's part of that original vision and get it all on paper.

[Carole]

I like writers who keep it minimal- that are consistent. They unfold the scene mentioning the stuff no one notices, yet we all see it and it says everything about the condition of the character. They mention one piece of a giant scene drawing your mind's eye to something that will reveal the mood or a layer of the character. something as simple as their grandmother's roll-top desk- this conjures all sorts of thing- does the character like to be surrounded by old stuff- is he sentimental- is he messy- like the desk- with a lot of unfinished projects.
All you need is one good description to identify a million things about the character- their life.
If you clutter with a lot of stuff- you can forget and then it's just fluff (imo)- Scan the room and give the highlights- an over-filled sink with dirty dishes dripping water onto the cracked linoleum.
Think of the imagery- fly-specked wallpaper peeling from the water-strained corner- So if your character is a child- what does the scene say- he's neglected, poor, desperate.

[Michael]

I think I'm sort of guilty of the fluff as you describe it. Not because I want to make it so many words or pages long, but because since I mostly specialize in short stories, i focus in on the details to give it the atmosphere.
Granted it's seen a lot more in my early stories (in my book you can tell which are older just by the amount of fluff I'd say), but I always took it just a style.
the thing that's dangerous about that is when you lose the balance of style over substance. It's something that gets away from me easily, and not something i thought about until your comment, so it's nice to think back on. Thank you for the reply :)

[Carole]

You're welcome- an English teacher once told me- Every word should be an integral part of the story- If it doesn't have impact or play an important role- then get rid of it. Also, you can always depend on Coco Chanel- she said when you get dressed- put on your jewelry, then go to the mirror and take off everything except two pieces- your statement pieces (or something like that)- I always adhered to that advice in everything I do. I beta-read for my kid and as we get more experiences- that red pen comes out and we have knocked out almost every adjective from his work. It's funny- if you compare his earlier works to the current ones- you can see the polishing of a talented writer (if I may brag, a bit)

[Amy]

My pet hate is detailed descriptions of cars and bikes. I’ve read these in traditionally published books. They have no impact on the story and hold up the action. Another one I’ve come across is a detailed description including technical terms of what must be the author’s hobby. Unless you share that hobby or those details are integral to the plot they become meaningless jargon. I’ve stopped reading a couple of books that went too deep into jargon. But I suppose someone who shared that hobby might enjoy it.

[Carole]

that's good advice, Alex. I agree with you, Amy. My eyes wander past stuff like that.

[Chrys]

Actually I've read too many fantasy stories in which a whole paragraph is taken up on what the character is wearing. Yawn.

Less is more, and short hand is great. I describe my dragons, for example, as being 'twice the size of a horse' because I think that's more natural than to state actually feet and inches.

[Amy]

Reminds me of something I wrote about our pet degu- bigger than a hamster, smaller than an elephant. #Accurate

True though. Relate it to something that’s easily understood without giving a kind of product specification.

[Michael]

This is actually all something I remember reading in Stephen King's On writing. Really great advice.

How do you all, as writers find ways to direct what's happening in your scene though, and translate it onto the page? Do you all act it out, draw/storyboard, etc.?

[Anna]

I have maps for my villages and surrounding countryside. I also have 'maps' of the inside of houses/cottages. I sometimes have to consult them and let my fingers do some walking around.

[Amy]

I can’t draw so the best I can do is very basic lines to depict where things are in relation to each other. I rely on my memory a lot and I shouldn’t. I am terrible at planning. I’m quite often halfway through writing a chapter before I know how it’s going to end. I’ve got away with it so far. I suppose my imagination drives most things I write.

[Dale]

Amy wrote: "I can’t draw so the best I can do is very basic lines to depict where things are in relation to each other. I rely on my memory a lot and I shouldn’t. I am terrible at planning. I’m quite often hal..."

That's actually an acceptable way to write, so long as you go back and clean it up later. I do that all the time. I like to compare this to methods of aiming in archery, a subject I learned during my Boy Scout days. In archery, you can use a line-of-sight method of aiming (which is harder than it sounds, because the arrow's trajectory isn't a line), gizmos called bow sights, or (drum roll) the instinct method. The latter involves shooting enough that you get a feel for how to hold the bow to hit the target. That was always my method, and it's also how I write. Not that I don't do some minimal amount of planning, but that's just to orient myself to the "target." After that, it's more instinct than not.

The main thing is, does it work for you? If so, then you're doing it the right way.

[Michael]

Anna Faversham wrote: "I have maps for my villages and surrounding countryside. I also have 'maps' of the inside of houses/cottages. I sometimes have to consult them and let my fingers do some walking around."

See this is something i would love to do in creating my own world, keeping streets in line with each other and what not. but I've the same problem as Amy. I'm terrible at planning, and rely on memory to get things done. This doesn't really work too much since things are constantly evolving and I don't want to set anything in stone (publishing) only to contradict later on in my stories.

[Anna]

I'm hopeless at drawing of any sort, so they are all rough and drawn in pencil so I can make alterations as the story demands. And I hate having to stop the storytelling in order to do this.