All stories have scenes. Scenes serve as stepping stones to move the story forward from the beginning to the end. Scenes drive forward the story you are writing. In a short story, you could have only one scene or several. In novels, you have many scenes.
What composes a scene?
A scene is a unit of storytelling that is composed of three things:
- It takes place in a specific place
- It flows over an unbroken period of time.
- While a character does things that move the story forward.
The scene should unfold in the reader’s mind like a movie. To do this effectively, the writer needs to show those things which allow the reader to experience what the main character is experiencing. In other words – put the reader into the scene by using simple concrete nouns that describe what is happening.
Each scene should:
- Have a purpose such as to deepen the conflict of the story, or reveal something about the characters.
- Have a beginning, a middle and an end.
- Change something over the course of that scene.
Scenes drive the plot of your story so be judicious in building those stepping stones to get to a satisfactory ending. The next time you begin to write a story think about where your path of stepping stones needs to go. It will help to drive your story and keep you on track.
Drop me a comment and tell me if this works for you. I would love to hear from you!
Chasing The Tale 