Scintillating Scenes

Scenes are major building blocks in fiction.  They describe any sequence or detailed episode. A scene might focus on one character's goals and obstacle, characters who confront one another, and those who speak dialogue.

Think of your story in a series of pictures or segments of scenes.  Visualize: love scene, fight scene, flight scene, or one of pursuit.  Become a moving camera to capture the situation.

Scenes should:

Reveal character, create tension, and move the plot forward.
Define a conflict; an encounter in which questions are raised and answered.
Clarify a location.  Where are we?
Provide a tense of time:  then, now, the future
Create atmosphere.
Express emotion anger, love, joy, resignation.
Provide a climax. The main character wins or loses or learns or doesn't.
The end of one scene should move into another.

All writers hear it again and again - show, don't tell.  Details stimulate the reader's imagination.  Reveal the character's emotion. Don't say, she's angry.  Show his or her actions. Describe dinner, don't just say they ate it.

The opening scene provides orientation.  The writer must hook the reader, introduce the protagonist or hint of one.  This includes a sprinkle of landscape, weather, mood or atmosphere.

Use summary scenes to show less important action and to bridge scenes.  Summary can cover long periods of time.

Creative Write:  Write a scene to engage the reader.  Create an altercation between two friends who meet in a park.  Show their moods through the action and weather. Use body language to enhance the exchange.