 Drama: August 16, 2023 Issue [#12108] |
This week: Shaping Your Scenes Effectively Edited by: Joy  
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“The success of every novel — if it’s a novel of action — depends on the high spots. The thing to do is to say to yourself, “What are my big scenes?” and then get every drop of juice out of them. ”
P.G. Wodehouse
“You don’t write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid’s burnt socks lying in the road.”
Richard Price
“What monster sleeps in the deep of your story? You need a monster. Without a monster there is no story.”
Billy Marshall
“Good novels are not written by orthodoxy-sniffers, nor by people who are conscience-stricken about their own orthodoxy. Good novels are written by people who are not frightened.”
George Orwell
“For maximum effectiveness, you should start your story at the time of the change that threatens your major character’s self-concept.”
Jack M. Bickham, Elements of Fiction Writing - Scene & Structure
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Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about considering to write deeper and more effective scenes.
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
A well-written scene can transport the readers to a new world and leave a lasting impact long after the story ends. Yet, what do you think makes a well-written scene? Just maybe, a combination of literary techniques, creative flair, and a deep understanding of human emotions. Easy to say, difficult to do.
Difficult because a scene contains in itself all the basics of fiction writing. That is, setting and atmosphere, character depth and emotions, engaging descriptions, conflict and tension, pacing, dialogue, and showing without telling. To narrow all this down, the job of any scene has to be: to move the story forward, establish cause and effect, and to reveal the consequences of the action in the scene.
What feels to be the most difficult to me when I write fiction is the structure of a scene; in other words, knowing what to include and what to leave out. It is said that you could remedy this by paying attention to these five questions: where, when, who, what, why.
It is also recommended to organize scene ideas visually by using index cards or by mapping them in smaller circles in and around a circle that represents the main idea of the scene.
In addition, once you have the scene structure loosely established in your mind or, hopefully, you have noted the basics of it down, how would use start and end a scene?
There are a few ways to start a scene. These are:
 With action
With a strong setting
With some bold dialogue
With a summary of the background that may have an effect on the entire story.
By revealing a character’s thoughts and feelings
There are also a few ways to end a scene. These are:
By ending in mid-action, which is cliffhangers
With a character’s epiphany
With a major obstacle uncovered
With emotional turmoil
With the promise of more revelation
You can best study scene structure and scene writing by reading the great authors. Since it was said that Charles Dickens was the front runner in the scene-writing ability, I made it my business to read all his books two years ago while doing a yearly reading project. Dickens’s writing is still read all over the world and it continues to gain many movie and TV adaptations.
Here is an excerpt from the Great Expectations. Although the beginning scene is much longer, I feel this small excerpt illustrates what I mean about the scene openings. In this scene, the main character runs into a criminal in a graveyard.
“Oh! Don’t cut my throat, sir,” I pleaded in terror. “Pray don’t do it, sir.”
“Tell us your name!” said the man. “Quick!”
“Pip, sir.”
“Once more,” said the man, staring at me. “Give it mouth!”
“Pip. Pip, sir.”
“Show us where you live,” said the man. “Point out the place!”
I pointed to where our village lay, on the flat in-shore among the alder-trees and pollards, a mile or more from the church.
The man, after looking at me for a moment, turned me upside down, and emptied my pockets. There was nothing in them but a piece of bread. When the church came to itself,—for he was so sudden and strong that he made it go head over heels before me, and I saw the steeple under my feet,—when the church came to itself, I say, I was seated on a high tombstone, trembling while he ate the bread ravenously.
When we look at this scene, especially for its emotional power, we see all the sensory descriptions, symbolisms, shifts in character dynamics--that is, the way these two characters interact--, and we can pry into the depths of both characters, and their internal and external conflicts, and the dialogue really contains an emotional subtext. It also hints at what may or may not happen next without saying anything about it.
In showing emotion in a scene, in addition to what I mentioned in the above paragraph, you can also introduce secondary themes, which have a way of perking up dull scenes, especially if you can use metaphors and symbolism to show emotion indirectly.
May all your scenes come alive on the page and may they contain emotionally charged moments to leave a lasting impact on your readers.
Until next time! 
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This Issue's Tip: To create emotion in a scene, do not overload the reader with melodrama; instead, use foreshadowing symbolism, setting, atmosphere, possibilities of other actions and options, and put your characters in danger with or without them being aware of it.
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Feedback for "Suspense Through Character Behavior"
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Annette 
I had to laugh at Nick's final words in your Gone Girl quote. And then I wanted to commit a crime against him. We should rename the book Gone Boy.
Yep, he got my attention, too, that way. But I thought what he said could be funny, also. Thanks for the input.
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