 Drama: October 17, 2018 Issue [#9159] |
This week: Writing the Most Powerful Scene Edited by: Joy  
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“I will dive into my chaos, and my Abyss will turn it into an art scene.”
Talismanist Giebra
“You can’t write a novel all at once, any more than you can swallow a whale in one gulp. You do have to break it up into smaller chunks. But those smaller chunks aren’t good old familiar short stories. Novels aren’t built out of short stories. They are built out of scenes.”
Orson Scott Card
“[on scene execution] Interesting isn't the point...storytelling momentum and relevance is.”
Larry Brooks
"The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes."
Andre Gide
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about writing the biggest scene in our novels.
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
Please, note that there are no rules in writing, but there are methods that work for most of us most of the time.
The ideas and suggestions in my articles and editorials have to do with those methods. You are always free to find your own way and alter the methods to your liking.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
If you are planning your next novel, like me with the NaNo Prep, you already know enough about your story’s characters, conflicts, setting, and the plot in general. If so, have you been, at this time, thinking about the big or the most powerful scene in your novel?
I am pointing this out because, usually, a big scene is what makes the story a winner. It is what makes your novel win prizes and causes the readers to become your loyal fans.
For example, almost all critics and audiences agree that E.T.’s final farewell in Spielberg’s film to be the most powerful scene.
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, like E.T., that huge scene comes at the end with the tragic climactic end of the star-crossed lovers. If one needs to find truly powerful big scenes, Bard’s work is a good source.
Yet, not every powerful scene may come at the end. In Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, the most powerful scene is the ball scene when Anna is invited by Count Vronsky to dance while the young princess Kitty, who is in love with the count, watches. The scene told through Kitty’s eyes is one of heartbreak, but also it is the beginning of the love between Anna and Vronsky. What makes this scene so huge are the two juxtaposed, contrasting emotions.
The same goes for Elizabeth’s rejection scene in Pride and Prejudice, when the proud Elizabeth puts down the arrogant Mr. Darcy, capturing the flaws of both characters and letting the characters learn and evolve into becoming better lovers and people.
So, how are the big, most powerful scenes are written?
 They are written with an eye for the most lasting effect.
There have to be other scenes building towards the most powerful scene. This is why, if you begin with the most powerful scene, you may risk running out of steam.
Too many equally powerful big scenes can make the readers lose their way while reading. The rule of thumb is to have one big scene framed by two other scenes of lesser impact in an average-length novel. If you are writing an epic in parts, however, you may decide to have one most powerful scene for each part.
In addition, the mechanism of writing a powerful big scene may include:
1. Giving and showing details and making them personal.
2. Creating a unique moment for the characters, with possibly contrasting emotions for each character.
3. Making sure each character sounds distinct from the others
4. Making sure the scene carries the most intense elements of the main theme
5. Looking for shared experiences with the readers. For example, we can all identify with loss, grief, anger, love, disappointment etc.
6. Avoiding cliché situations and cliché expressions because the minds of the readers may skim over those more easily
7. Avoiding the use of common emotion words, such as love, fear, scared, in love, afraid, etc.
By the end of our novels, we may not all become Tolstoys to succeed in writing a War and Peace scene in which Prince Andrey is lying, wounded, gazing at the sky and realizing how insignificant everything in the world is. Still, we can all try to do our best with what we have as to imagination, shrewd planning, and expertise of craft.
I wish you all the great moments with your writing.
Until next time!  |
 Enjoy!
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This Issue's Tip:
Every sentence in fiction must convey some kind of information, even the common dialogue, however loosely.
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Feedback for "Diverse roles of Short Story and Novel"
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WakeUpAndLive~doingNaNo'24 
Wow, Joy, this newsletter is going to my archives. I will cherish its content. Thank you! A novel workshop in a letter, great!!
Thank you very much. I'm happy you liked it.
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ChrisDaltro-Chasing Moonbeams 
Dear Joy,
THANK YOU SO MUCH for featuring my story eLove (chapters 1-31) on your awasome WDC Newsletter - Drama: Diverse roles of Short Story and Novel dated September 19, 2018.
I was so pleased and honored.
Christina Daltro
You're very welcome, Chris.
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dragonblue2
A Man called Ove was made into a movie. It was wonderful. I was riveted to my seat all the way through it, and laughed and cried. It was really very sad, but thoughtfully so, in the ending of it.
It is a one-of-a-kind story. I took my time reading the book to get the most out of it. Nice to hear that the movie business didn't mess it up.
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