The Five Ingredients of the Scene

In Novel Writing, Short Story Writing and Memoir

 

1. Point of View
2. Dialogue
3. Dramatic tension/Action
4. Mood
5. Flashback

1. Point of view or who's story are you telling... POV puts you inside your main character's head, heart and gut -- you are seeing the world through the eyes of your character.

2. Dialogue is one of the fastest ways into character and allows characters other than your POV character to reveal who they are. Letting the dialogue "roll" often offers up unexpected "what happens next?" and other surprises. Dialogue is a great way to show tension. Glance through at a novel. Most novels are anywhere between fifty and eighty percent dialogue. Think you can't write dialogue. You can. I promise. Why am I so sure? You talk, don't you? You can write dialogue. I've never worked with anyone who can't write dialogue, only with people who think they can't.

3. Dramatic Tension/Action. You can't have a story without dramatic tension. There are many different ways to create dramatic tension, which can come from something outside the character or something internal.

4. Mood, some people call this description. Thinking mood instead of description is better because mood is character driven. How does your character see a scene? In other words, what the character sees is more important than what you as the writer want to describe.

5. Flashback is a scene from the past that informs the present and tells the reader something important about the character. Once you are in the flashback, you are once again in scene. All of the above applies.

I went through your critique of my novel last night and read all your comments. Excellent throughout! Amazing how you picked up the things I felt weren’t there, yet didn’t know why or what to do about them...You have been a great teacher and friend... I'm sure there are countless others like me too - who would be trapped in our own minds and our own darkness if you hadn't coaxed us, with your gentle approach, your sincere encouragement and your complete non-judgment of who we are—into finding our way through the words waiting to come out on our pages. ~ Susan Omilian

 

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© 1999-2007, Emily Hanlon. All rights reserved. The Five Ingredients of the Scene be reprinted with permission.
emily@emilyhanlon.com

The Fiction Writer's Journey