Scenes

Bronwyn Jameson states, “Every scene should advance the story, moving the plot and the characters toward the story's resolution and conclusion. If the scene doesn’t fulfil that purpose, then it doesn’t belong in the story.”

This is a very easy thing to forget when you’ve just written something hilarious or nerve-wracking or thought-provoking or otherwise brilliant, and you want to keep it in your novel just because it’s a good scene.

Good scenes aren’t good enough.

Every scene should contain action, AKA conflict AKA proactive characters.
Every scene should derive logically from the preceding action.
Every scene should directly cause change, thus provoking the following scene(s).

(This, of course, assumes you are writing a chronological piece, and not something like Pulp Fiction or Momento.)

Three Act Structure

In three act structure, Act 1 belongs to the hero, or the situation. Act 2, however, belongs to the villain. This is where everything the hero does backfires even though s/he is being heroic. The situation escalates and worsens with every scene.

Heads up: Structure

This week's Craft topic is Structure. Look for "Structure" posts on Wednesday.

Vernacular: structure

STRUCTURE is a selection of events from the characters' life stories that is composed into a strategic sequence to arouse specific emotions and to express a specific view of life.

Structure provides progressively building pressures that force characters into more and more difficult dilemmas where they must make more and more difficult risk-taking choices and actions, gradually revealing their true natures, down to the unconscious self.

[Robert McKee--STORY]

Hero's Journey: Point of No Return

In Vogler's "Point of No Return" stage of the Hero's Journey, the worst that could happen actually happens. Part of the hero dies, causing the rebirth of the "new" hero. S/he has learned new lessons, but there are severe consequences.

Hero's Journey: Tests, Allies, Enemies

In Vogler's "Tests, Allies and Enemies" stage of the Hero's Journey, the hero/ine figures out new rules, builds a team, experiments with change, and deals with new minor enemies as they crop up.

Be sure to show/exacerbate different sides of the same issue.

Hero's Journey: Refusal of the Call

For the story to work, the journey must be treacherous. Vogler's "refusal of the call" stage of the Hero's Journey is to illustrate the risk involved. Reader must know what is at stake for the hero.

Heads up: Heroes' Journeys

This week's Craft topic is Heroes' Journeys. Look for "Heroes' Journeys" posts on Wednesday.

Vernacular: story events

A STORY EVENT creates meaningful change in the life situation of a character, that is expressed and experienced in terms of a value, and is achieved through conflict.

[Robert McKee--STORY]

Vernacular: story values

STORY VALUES are the universal qualities of human experience that may shift from positive to negative, or negative to positive, from one moment to the next.

Ex: alive/dead, love/hate, freedom/slavery, truth/lie, courage/cowardice, loyalty/betrayal, wisdom/stupidity, strength/weakness, excitement/boredom, good/evil, right/wrong, life/death, justice/injustice, self-awareness/self-deception

[Robert McKee--STORY]

Vernacular: beats

A BEAT is an exchange of behavior in action/reaction. Beat by beat, these changing behaviors shape the turning of a scene.

[Robert McKee--STORY]

Vernacular: scenes

A SCENE is an action through conflict in more or less continuous time and space that turns the value-charged condition of a characters life on at least one value with a degree of perceptible significance. Ideally, ever scene is a Story Event.

[Robert McKee--STORY]

Vernacular: sequences

A SEQUENCE is a series of scenes--generally 2 to 5--that culminate with greater impact than any previous scene.

[Robert McKee--STORY]