Each Scene is a Play

Writing scenes is one of the worst parts of writing. The scene is the building block of a story; the story is what happens when you string a number of them together. However, writing each individual scene can be difficult. The problem is breaking the scene down even further so that you can write it. Fortunately, this is not that hard to do.

So What Exactly is a "Scene"?

In the simplest terms, a "scene" is part of a story concerning one activity, or a meaningful step of that activity: Characters opening a safe, walking from the castle to the village, or getting someone's attention are all "scenes." It doesn't matter how many actions it takes to resolve the activity (montages are one scene). It can involve different settings (a captain having a conversation with his lieutenant could involve them on different ships). Heck, two or more characters completing parts of the same puzzle but in separate areas or getting past different obstacles to meet up is still one scene.

The key here is that the scene must move the plot forward, even if it seems like it's a step backward.

The key here is that the scene must move the plot forward, even if it seems like it's a step backward.

For our purposes, a "scene" is how long it takes your character(s) to accomplish one activity or step of that activity, regardless of how many activities or settings it takes to accomplish that activity. You can even have different scenes happen at the same setting (if you have a huge ball, introducing characters, one character seducing another, two falling in love, and a dance-off would each constitute their own scene), but these are their own scene. However, we're breaking things down to keep things organized, so don't get too hung up on the definition.

Know The Emotion in Play

Some writers keep the story flowing by not having the same type of emotion (negative/positive) two scenes in a row. That is, if the scene we just finished is positive (they just got a really cool ring) then the next scene has to be negative (the ring turns out to be cursed), then the next positive again (it's easy enough to deal with the curse). While this can be interesting as this needs to match the needs of the outline (negative scenes still need to keep the first act ascending, for example), it nonetheless helps keep it interesting for the reader.

What's the Goal?

The first thing is to define what the scene needs to accomplish. Sometimes you need to get the characters from one point to another, someone gets the map, or two characters meet. This also applies to getting the last bit of information needed to solve a puzzle, finally fighting the BBEG, or even getting home just to fall down to exhaustion. In essence, you need to know what the scene needs to accomplish when you're writing it.

This means your scene goal needs to recognize three things:

• End: You need to know how the scene will end. You need to know where everything will end up, what activities need to be accomplished to further the plot, and to what degree the characters will succeed or fail at those activities. You also need to debate if the next part of the plot needs to be foreshadowed or even outright pointed out during or at the end of the scene.
• Relationships: If the relationships of those involved in the scene need to change, that needs to happen as well. It doesn't matter if all of those involved in the relationship are present in the scene (such as the princess finding out that the king isn't her father and doesn't need the king to be there). If you really want to have fun, show-don't'-tell becomes your best friend here (taking off the ring he just gave her, her punching his picture, or her changing dress from fancy to busy will be much more effective than her saying what the relationship change is out loud).
• Continuity: You also need to remember that the scene is a bridge from the previous scene to the next. This means that you not only need to remember where the scene came from but where it's going and allow for those scenes in the current one, at least to some degree. This doesn't mean that you can't cut from one group to another; it means that there will be some carryover from one scene to the next. If you have a big reveal (the princess finds out that her father isn't the king), then you can't have the next scene be another emotional scene; you need to give the reader a breather in the next scene.

With that in mind (the End, Relationships, and Continuity), you need to decide on what the current scene needs to accomplish for your story. This makes it simultaneously easier (you have a better idea of what needs to happen) and harder (now you need to figure out it all happens.

Each Scene Has Its Own Curve

You also need to remember that each scene needs to have its own three-act structure. Now that you know the emotional timbre of the scene and what the goals of the scene are, you can build the scene with its own instigating incident, climax, and three mini-acts. If the scene needs to be negative, then it needs to build negative, go positive, and then end negative; if it needs to be positive, then it needs to start and end that way but have a negative chewy center.

Consider our princess: We know that the goal is going to have her finding out that the king is not her father, that this will change their relationship, and that the scenes around it are relatively relaxed (she found a scroll of lineage while investigating the library) and the next scene is about a separated party member's issues in a local town.

If the scene needs to be negative, then she needs to be doubting her lineage and her place in the line of succession. She then notices the scroll is for her lineage (instigating incident) and as she reads it she gets more and more excited, until she notices her name is missing (climax). She now knows she isn't in the line of succession and takes off her royal ring.

If the scene needs to be positive: She needs to be doubting if the current king needs to be on the throne. She begins reading the scroll (instigating incident) but frowns as she realizes she doesn't recognize the names of any of her father's "ancestors." She then smiles as she realizes he isn't listed but she is (climax) and decides a change in style is needed, so she takes off her frilly dress and puts on some armor.

Each scene has the same goals (she finds out who she is, relationships change), but the overall tone is vastly different due to the emotional needs of the script. More importantly, each scene has its own three acts, following the general rules of the three-act play, giving it some rather nice bones to work from, giving it some solidity.

Of Course There Are Advanced Options

Sometimes you're going to need to run two scenes at the same time or break up a scene for greater effect, going from one scene to another every few lines. Combat scenes are the obvious parallel scenes, but you see this in dramas and comedies all the time. Running parallel scenes only works if the two scenes are dealing with the same concept (the two scenes have characters racing to deal with something, exposition is being revealed to characters, or two characters need to get past different sets of soldiers) even if one character succeeds while the other fails.

The goal of these scenes is to show how different characters approach things; they're considered different scenes because while they are trying to emphasize the different approaches of the characters, they have their own goals.

You can also run scenes in parallel if it helps pacing: Combat scenes work better with bursts of activity and shifting between scenes shows the chaos better and it can help break down exposition scenes if you have some sort of action interspersed in the bigger scene.

[The exposition scenes in "The Fifth Element", where everyone realizes the same thing at the same time, are one scene.]

It can also help to break down scenes into smaller sections. Running gags are one of the more common serial scenes, where you show the setup of the gag over two or three smaller scenes followed by the payoff. This also works for characters building things where they pick up one part at a time when you're using smaller scenes as bridging sequences. These can also work with other scenes, adding the running gag to longer scenes, for example. These running gags have their own goals but they aren't accomplished in the individual pieces.

Notes For Pantsers

One of the problems pantsers have is focus; this lack of focus not only leads to a lot more writing than needed, but makes editing a nightmare. Setting scene goals helps in keeping focus and cuts down too much extra writing. This in turn makes editing go for a little faster. It also helps make the writing at least feel like it's taking a little less time as you're focused on the goal rather than on mere word count. It also adds a little bonus to your sense of accomplishment as you've accomplished something towards moving your plot forward, not just writing.

By giving your scenes goals you give them greater focus and make them easier to write. Your readers are also much more willing to keep reading because they know the scenes have a purpose; they aren't there to show off the writer's imagination. They also make editing easier since you have something to focus on; paring away what doesn't help the goal makes for better scenes. With that in mind, scene goals can make your life so much easier and your writing better.

["Scene goals" is an idea from R Talsorian's "Teenagers from Outer Space" comedy role-playing game by Mike Pondsmith; while it was presented as a game-mastering tip in the game it's been expanded on here.]