In Service to Story

The tales we tell are broken down into chunks. A novel. Chapters. Scenes. This, presumably, is done to make the whole of the story easier to consume.

It's also useful for working through a narrative line. None of which should be construed as support on my part for any kind of extensive story plotting. I, too, am a totally character driven writer. As such, I require something slightly different of my scenes that my plot-driven counterparts.

To survive in a book a scene has to:

• Touch on the external conflict - preferably via action and/or dialogue
• If no external, then it must hit the internal conflict - also via action or dialogue
• Challenge the protagonist and make things MUCH worse unless we're in the last few pages of the book
• Advance the over progression in the overall story arc

But above all things, the scene must serve the protagonist. Note I didn't say 'serve the story'. For a character driven writer - or at least, for me, it's the same thing. Everything rises from character - the conflict, the motivation, the goals, the arc, all of it.

My secret weapon for figuring all of this out is a book/workshop called Break Into Fiction. It's heavy with templates asking you questions about your protagonist and what drives him or her. It's invaluable. The book (with all the templates) is available, too. Taking a few days to work through the templates gives me enough information that I know what my characters MUST face in order for them to change - to morph into the people they need to be to face the antagonist.

From that point, I have a vague notion of what scenes need to happen where. I say 'vague' because inevitably scenes I think happen near the climax of the book are actually necessary within the first third of a book. And then everything thereafter has to shuffle to adjust.

That said, I want scenes to work as hard as possible. I really want them doing at least three things at once (see list above). During rewrites, that's what I shoot for - taking two lazy scenes that only do one thing each and finding a way to merge them so they DO more. Cherry Adair likes to say 'what the fuck's the point of the scene'? She also advises getting into scenes late and then leaving them early - meaning, I think, that you want to keep your scenes packed with action. I like to keep those comments in mind - both while writing scenes and editing them. I *want* my scenes tight and filled with tension. Of one kind or another. That doesn't happen if I'm allowed to meander. It's alarming to me how someone who claims to be a writer (me) so instinctively wanders away from conflict rather than headlong into it when she's allowed to putter about in her scenes. Thus - short, tight, and jammed full of stuff that has to happen.

All of that said, it's fascinating to me how other people approach their work. So more please. Has there been something left unsaid about scenes this week? What do YOU require of your scenes?

Structure: Scene & Sequel

First...Another contest I am proud to be a part of, Fae Books 4K Likes Giveaway. There are a bunch of books, B&N and Amazon giftcards, a critique, earrings, and more! Check it out!

http://www.faebooks.co.uk/p/4k-likes-giveaway.html

And now on with the blog...

Folks know the SPINE of a book is that narrow strip you see when they are all arranged on the store shelf, that part that some folks get testy about when someone "brakes" it, leaving those wrinkles running top to bottom and showing that the book was actually read. Today I want to talk about a similar word, but an altogther different meaning: the story's BACKBONE.

Scenes. 

<insert "ta-da" music and cymbal crash here>

Scenes are active. They show us vibrant characters who are doing things. Why are they doing these things? There has been an external stimulus, and they are responding to it. EX: A medic is enjoying a quiet evening on-duty when the phone rings. OR A detective has a morning appointment. 

Early on in a scene you establish a viewpoint character, a setting, and something happens...not necessarily in that order. Pretty easy to understand, yes? Three ingredients, combine and stir, right?

Sometimes that might be enough.


Just don't forget that character development and conflict are often seeded in between the stimulus and the response. Does the medic cringe with fear at getting called out? Is he new? Did he screw up last time and someone nearly died? Is he waiting on a call from the detective who's following his wife? 

This is where you can, BRIEFLY, begin to layer the character with emotions that make them real. But remember, this is a scene, it's action oriented, so don't get bogged down in emotion yet. Just plant that seed of character to build on. Let the action be active. When it is done, you can let that seed sprout...just before the next bit of action happens that somehow, logically, keeps intensifying the story question while pushing towards the scene goal.

If you want to master the skill of scenes and sequels, I HIGHLY recommend Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham from Writer's Digest Books.

Chapter four: Structure In Larger Elements: The Scene.

Excerpt (Pg 23) "Readers generally find nothing more enthralling than conflict."

Excerpt (Pg 24)  "The scene, you see, has conflict at heart, but is not static. It is a dynamic structural component with a definite internal pattern which forces the story to move forward as the scene plays--and as a result of its ending."

Excerpt (Pg. 25) "The scene question cannot be some vague, philosophical one such as, 'Are bankers nice?' or 'What motivates people like Fred?' The question is specific, relates to a definite, immediate goal, and can be answered with a simple yes or no."

** Mr. Bickham gives the example that if the story goal is "I must be the first to climb that mountain!" said Fred. Then the reader's story question is: "Will Fred succeed in being the first to climb the mountain?" And the individual scenes each have a specific goal that supports the story goal, such as a scene where 'Fred goes to convince a banker to give him a loan to fund the climb' leaves the reader wondering if he will get the loan...and what will he do if he doesn't? And all this drama is deepened by the conflict of a rival climber who is already rich and doesn't need to get funding and can therefore organize his climb without delay.

Chapter six: Planning and Revising Scenes for Maximum Effect. 
**Granted, I have not mastered this art even after six books. I frequently return to this chapter, heck, to this book, to review and keep its lessons fresh in my mind.

Excerpt: (Pg. 43) "Remember how stimulus-response transactions work, with an internalization in the middle? ... recognize that there will be a number of sharp twists and small setbacks during the conflict portion of the scene, and your viewpoint character will experience each of these turns as a stimulus;  ...  you the author have the option of going into his brief internalization concerning what was just said or done. It is in these internalizations that you can remind the reader what's at stake, and how things seem to be going in the opinion of the viewpoint character."


Chapter seven: Linking Your Scenes: The Structure of Sequel
**I call this the "Emotion, Thought, Decision Moment" Something big just happened. It changes things for our character and propels him/her forward.

(Pg. 51) "A sequel begins for your viewpoint character the moment a scene ends. Just struct by a new, unanticipated but logical disaster, he is plunged into a a period of sheer emotion followed sooner or later by a period of thought, which sooner or later results in the formation of a new, goal-oriented decision, which in turn results in some action toward the new goal..."

Also worth noting is Chapter ten: Common Errors in Scenes and How To Fix Them

I hope this has been helpful! And really, go get that book!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Scene+and+Structure+by+Jack+Bickham

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Chapter Goals and The Serial Model

Once upon a time, in days of old, there lectured a professor on the monetary origins of chapters being rooted in the serial publication model. The author had to write the weekly submission with enough of a story and a cliff-hanger to draw the readers back the following week(s). Alexander Dumas, père's "The Three Musketeers" and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock" were the better-known examples. Oh, and of course, Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

My recollections of the rest of that class are a haze of 

blah, blah, blah; wah, wah, wah; and 

"did I swallow the tequila worm last night?"

Clearly, the part to which I paid attention was the "give them a reason to need to buy the next paper." That was exchanged for "give them a reason to keep reading." The best way to do that is to make sure each scene/chapter resolves an earlier question, presents a risk, and ends with a pivotal moment. In essence, each chapter has to have a purpose. A goal. Linking the goals develops the plot and modulates the pacing. As long as a chapter's goal builds off of the previous chapter's success or failure, your story structure remains solid.

The end of the chapter should never be construed as 
the author's permission to put down the book.

The driving purpose of having a goal for the protagonist to achieve -- or utterly fail to achieve -- for each chapter is to create a escalating series of actions and consequences that keep the reader engrossed in the entire story. One weak navel-gazing/grass-growing scene and the momentum is shattered. The book is put down, the phone is answered, the TV is turned on, or the cat-box is cleaned.

The reader has left your world.

I do my best work when I write with the "serialized author" mindset.  When I stray, the "cut scenes" file ends up with a higher word-count than the actual novel. If the scene/chapter doesn't move the story forward, it's got to go, right? Riiight? If it doesn't, then you're not selling the next paper. If you're not selling the paper, then the paper isn't buying your next submission.

If the paper isn't buying your next submission, then you're broke.

So, dear readers who are also writers, consider constructing each scene/chapter as a snippet, as bait, as an advertisement to buy that next paper. You'll save yourself a lot of time during edits...and you'll be able to tip the newsies.

Scenes and How They Do and Don't Work in Novels

That picture is a bit blurry, but that's Nora Roberts rocking it out on the dance floor at the Harlequin party a the RWA National Conference. She is so wonderful in so many ways.

So this week's topic is Scene Goal: Why YOU Should Have One (Pantsers Beware!). No doubt it was KAK, calendar Nazi and avowed pre-plotter who added that snide addendum for Pantsers to beware. No doubt directed at me.

Ha ha.

But it's interesting, having just come back from the convention, and hearing so many amazing workshops on craft and business. So many writers talked about various approaches to writing that involve blending of plotting and pantsing that it makes me think there are very few of us - if anyone - who does all of one thing or the other.

The whole idea behind making sure that you, as the author, have a goal for every scene is to keep the writing tight, focused and moving forward. The primary definition of a scene comes from theater, as so many of our writing craft concepts do.

Thank you ancient Greeks, yet again!

So a scene is, first and foremost:

1: one of the subdivisions of a play: as

a : a division of an act presenting continuous action in one place

b : a single situation or unit of dialogue in a play <the love scene>

c : a motion-picture or television episode or sequence 

In theater they are usually delimited by the entrance and exit of characters, because that dynamic movement is such a driving force for a stage play. Many movies have adopted the sense of a scene break - moving fast from one visual to another - to drive action forward. In network TV, scenes are broken up by commercials. 

 

This can be less clear in a novel, because characters don't necessarily physically come and go, conversations and actions may flow more seamlessly from one point to another, and there are no commercial breaks. (We hope!)

People who use screenwriting models to structure their novels tend to move scene by scene. However, though I use the Three-Act structure and find it very useful, I rarely think in terms of scenes, or scene goals. This is not because I write for discovery, pants, mist or whatever you want to call it.

It's because I'm a character-driven writer. 

See, the common wisdom - and it's generally good information - is to follow the Goal-Motivation-Conflict model. This largely comes from Debra Dixon's book on the topic, which many writers, especially new ones, seem to like very much.

It does nothing at all for me. 

To me, characters are real people. They're complex, which means they're muddled. It makes a clean story for a character to have a single goal for every scene, to be driven by their motivation to overcome the conflict. We used this in theater all the time. But that's only the most fundamental level. Do any of us have only one goal or motivation at a time? 

Think about yourself, right at this moment. You're reading this post. What's your goal? Your motivation? Is there a conflict? Maybe not and you reading this wouldn't make a very good scene or story. But, placed in the larger context, reading this might be part of the goal to be a better writer, motivated by your deep-seated dream and the desire to overcome that last rejection. 

But, if I'm writing your story, I want to show how you're feeling, whether you think this makes sense or not, and then throw in a symbol of whatever is truly holding you back - that maybe you don't even realize. You start thinking about maybe playing Solitaire instead or your crying child comes in saying you don't pay enough attention to her, or your spouse grumbles about wanting you to cook something. 

What's my goal for your scene?

Not a neat tick on the outline. Not an easily encapsulated 1, 2, 3. Instead I'm painting one piece of a puzzle. Hopefully by the end, it will make for a complete image. 

I suspect this is the heart of pantsing. Not that we don't pre-plot, but that we don't always have a trajectory that can be mapped like a vector equation. Maybe we're the impressionists of the writing world. The rules matter less to us than the FEEL. 

In fact, one of the best workshops I went to at the conference was about intensifying emotion. Tanya Michaels gave us many great examples of how some great books do this. Most valuable to me, she said "if you can make your reader feel one emotion, you can make them feel all the emotions." Loved that. 

I suppose what I'm getting at is, not every emotion has a goal. Sometimes a scene is there just to create a mood. Perhaps one could argue with me that creating a mood IS my goal, but I don't always know that.

And I don't think I have to know. 

But then, I'm happy in the misty worlds.