40: Make a Scene in a Good Way

Today we're kind of going back to the basics. What

is a scene? How do you write a good scene? And when should a

scene end? Let's find out in this episode of writing

proceeds. Welcome to the writing pursuits podcast where authors

like you discuss writing craft, author, life and book marketing

strategies. I'm your host Kathrese. McKee. I own writing

pursuits and write and produce the weekly newsletter writing

pursuits tips for authors. In addition, I am a speculative

fiction author, writing procedures for authors who drink

too much coffee, endure judgmental looks from their

furry writing companions and struggle for words. If you are a

writer seeking encouragement, information and inspiration This

podcast is for you. Let's get to it. Hey, writing precedes

authors. Welcome back to the podcast. To those of you who are

new, I want to extend a special welcome. My name is Kathrese

McKee, and I'm glad you're here. Please leave a comment a star

rating and follow the show to help others find writing

pursuits. scenes are the building blocks of novel

writing. If you master writing scenes, your stories will be

unputdownable riveting engaging. If you are an experienced

author, you know these things, but every fiction author must

learn how to write a good scene. To start off, I will answer a

newbie writers actual question. In one of the Facebook groups

I'm in and author asked this. If you have a scene in your book

and on one page, and a big jump in time on the next page. Do I

need to one of those asterisks between them. First pay no

attention to where one page ends and the next one begins. This is

irrelevant in a digital book. And it should not matter in a

print book either. The only good reason to indicate a scene

change is because you have reached the end of a scene

period. Second, no one has seen change most frequently happens.

It most frequently happens when there is a jump forward in time,

as they mentioned when the setting changes or when there is

a change in point of view. Most importantly, the end of a scene

was never happened before a choice is made. So set the scene

created dilemma and require a choice to be made before you end

the scene. Sounds simple, doesn't it? The choice your

character makes doesn't have to be earth shattering, but it must

be made. Please remember though inaction is a choice to if your

teenage MC is viciously mocked by her arch nemesis and does not

respond. Her silence is a choice she makes and her silence can

have consequences. Oh yes, it definitely can. Jay Thorne

states in his book, writing scenes, a working scene is one

where something happens. That might sound so simple as to be

almost foolish, but scenes with nothing happening are one of the

most common obstacles writers face choice. Capital C is the

most trusted tool for making sure something happens in your

scene. Writing scenes by Jay Thorne is a book I highly

recommend. It's straightforward and clear. And there's a

workbook to go with it. What is a scene scenes are many stories

and I mean in my in I stories. Many short scenes are many

stories. They have a beginning, a middle and an end. At the end

of each scene story, you need to provide a reason for readers to

keep reading. If you visualize your story as if it is a movie,

it is usually easy to tell when a scene break needs to happen.

For example, your Regency romance novel shows a piece of

action. Let's say the witty by play at a formal dinner party

during the season in London, then switches to a couple of the

ladies riding in a carriage through Hyde Park the next day.

Not only have your characters changed location, but many hours

have passed. Both scenes could be in the same chapter because

you are trying to communicate a bigger piece of the overall

story. Namely, will she or Won't she? If you have multiple scenes

within a chapter, then each scene story should support the

chapters bigger story like scenes chapters are short

stories and each chapter should end in a way that compels the

reader to turn the page. So, Miss Smyth is much taken with

young lord Clifford at the dinner party and encourages his

attentions. He likes her too, and they tend to tively agree to

attend a play together.

But the next day at the Loris points out that Lord Clifford

has two feathers to fly with He is as poor as a church maps. One

step ahead of his creditors should Miss Smyth except his

invitation to see the play or send her regrets. I mean, Lord

Clifford is poor, but he is as handsome as a God wants a girl

to do. choices are made in each scene leading to the big

question for the chapter, Miss Smyth decides to encourage the

gentleman at dinner in Scene one, but in scene two, she must

make a decision to end his pursuit or follow her heart

choices choices. So if you have reached the end of your scene,

then you need to indicate a scene break with some sort of

break and a mark. Traditionally, this is indicated by three

asterisks in a row, or a hash mark centered. When you format

your book, you can substitute a pretty glyph to mark the end of

each scene. If you have not reached the end of your scene,

but the action jumps forward by a few hours, or even longer,

then leave a blank line. indicate this to your format or

by typing like open parenthesis space, close parentheses on one

line by itself in your manuscript, the blank line acts

as a soft break without interrupting the scene. I only

recommend this if you stay in the same point of view. Another

way to indicate a jump forward in time without a scene without

a break, is to spell it out. For example, three hours later,

Rachel finished sewing Rebecca's badges on to the Girl Scout

sash. She stretched her aching neck and shoulders, no good deed

went unpunished.

So all you did was spell it out. It was three hours later, no big

deal. The reader will completely understand but you don't want to

leave them kind of wondering what just happened? What about

those books that switch points of view POVs multiple times

within any given scene. This is pretty common practice in

romance novels, then no you wouldn't put in a scene break

every time you switched POV it's not an automatic thing. My

caution to you is to make dead certain you are skilled enough

to pull this off. Head hopping can produce silly results and

annoy the reader if done poorly for me personally, if I have

multiple main characters, I usually stay in the POV of the

main character who is most affected by what happens in the

scene because I believe this produces a richer emotional

experience for the reader instead of switching back and

forth but that's just a personal choice for me as an author.

Writing pursuits is run by Kathrese. McKee, who has been

new level of excellence. Guthrie's is a three story

methods certified editor who specializes in story

diagnostics, coaching and line editing to help you prepare your

story for the journey ahead. For more information, go to writing

pursuits.com. The link is in the show notes. And now back to the

podcast. Setting the scene. Okay, this is a big one please

ground each scene in its setting. Both place and time

establish the point of view to your reader needs to know it was

the butler in the parlor at midnight with a candlestick.

Setting each scene within the first three or four paragraphs

is an important building block authors often overlook, but they

miss the opportunity to influence the mood and emotional

impact of the action that follows. Without setting your

reader wanders into a white room without context. Don't do that

to your reader. So I'll give you this example from Tony Hillerman

Dancehall of the dead. Lieutenant Joseph Lee porn spent

the afternoon on the ridge that overlooks the village of Zuni.

From the south, he had picked the place carefully. It was a

relatively comfortable spot, with soft earth under his

buttocks, and a sandstone slab for a backrest a growth of tummy

So in a normal opinion, made it unlikely that anyone would see

him and wonder what the deli was doing there. And the view was

ideal for His purpose. No, that wasn't the beginning of a book.

That was all the way in chapter 18. But notice how Hillerman set

the scene with time and place. And I think it was a very

captivating beginning. So this is by no means all we could say

about writing scenes. However, if you set the scene and tell a

mini story with a beginning, middle and end, create a dilemma

and forced difficult choices to be made. You are well on the way

to creating a novel readers will love. So what do you think? How

do you know you have reached the end of a scene? Lee If you're

answering the comments at writing proceeds.com forward

slash podcast, forward slash 40. And that's all I have for today.

Until next time, keep writing. Thank you for joining us today.

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