Scene: How To Write It?

Have a question? Agree, disagree,
with me? Leave me your opinion.


A scene has a beginning, middle,

and an ending. It moves the

story along. The scene has

a purpose. A scene flows

smoothly.



A scene is a few paragraphs,

five pages, or twenty pages.

It depends on you.



Any word not doing its job

is deleted. Bloated, meaningless,

words take-up space, and slow

the story-line down.



The scene informs the

reader, shows the conflict

a character is having.



A character's conflict is

between nature, or against

man.



A character fighting a wild-fire

is an example of man against

nature.



Neighbors on different issues

involving politics represents

man against man.



The initial scene introduces

characters, sets a mood,

back-ground information

can be given, suspense

is stirred in, and the

reader meets the view-point

character.



The scene acquaints the

reader with the character.

Don't give too much information

at one time, or discuss many

characters in a scene.



The first scene's focus is to

present the main character.



Perhaps, you'd like readers

to know how the main character

handles problems, the issue

at hand.



Is the character aggressive?

He/she likes his/her fists to

meet mouths, teeth? Or,

he/she starts confusion, and

disappears. Will he/she

repeat him/herself?



Give an idea of his/her faults

in the scene.



Set the mood. Is the day

dark and gloomy? The

character is seeing shadows,

argues easily?



The back-ground information

given should be what's

necessary. Select carefully

the information shared.



Conflict dissolves confusion

into the scene. In other

words, suspense is sprinkled

into the mix through a problem.



Suspense keeps the reader

wanting to know what happens

next.



I suggest that you work

with the first person

view-point, I.



This particular view-point

character isn't in every

scene, and readers find out

information through

that character.

Still, the first person

view-point is easy to

work with.



Now, it's good practice

to read the work of

your favorite authors.

Read works of authors

in general.



Take note of how they

write scenes. How are

the scenes started?

The middle? Ending?



Re-write the scenes

from your imagination.

Are you happy with

the scenes? The

more you practice,

the better you'll

become at writing

scenes.



Did your scenes resemble

the original?



If no, well done.



The scenes should be from

your imagination, thinking.



If yes, try writing from a

different angle. Always

look at ideas upside down

and inside out.



A suggestion is to write

a scene with everything

you want to put in it. Go

back to slice-away

useless words, and words

weighing down the story-

line.



The result is your scene.