Basic Scene Structure

What makes an event in a scene?

The sum of the overall action of a scene--"what happens" --is the event. When we state what happens on a moment-to-moment level, we are naming the actions. When we state what happens globally, we are naming the event. Actions + actions = event.

This may seem elementary, but often, young writers get caught up in describing what characters are thinking and feeling, and nothing much happens at all. Or they try to keep the action popping, like a movie, and it's all just a jousting match in which nothing really gets decided or changed.

Event does not have to be spectacular, but it does have to be interesting and meaningful. It has to make the story go somewhere.

The purpose of a scene

A scene helps to achieve coherence in a short story or novel. The writer should have a goal to accomplish with each scene. A scene lets the reader know that the setting has changed too. Common purposes of a scene include:

Advance story – The scene must move the story forward. This could mean introducing a problem or making a problem worse for the characters.

Show conflict – The conflict could be between two characters, a character and nature, a character and time, and so on.

Introduce character – The reader needs to meet each character at some point. A careful writer does not introduce too many characters in one scene. This could confuse the reader.

Develop character – Along with introducing a character, a writer can use a scene to show the character’s good and bad points.

Create suspense – Suspense keeps the reader’s interest going, perhaps more than any other element of fiction

Give information – The writer can weave information into a scene so the reader knows the needed background of the story.

Create atmosphere – Using conventions such as setting, weather, and time, the writer can create a certain mood in a scene.

Develop theme – A piece of fiction should have a theme. Each scene should bring out the theme to the reader.

Scenes that are memorable, the ones the reader remembers, will attempt to achieve as many of the previously mentioned purposes as possible. If the scene has no purpose—or even has a purpose, but not a sufficient one to justify the space it takes up—the writer should cut that scene out of the story.

A viewpoint exists for every scene

Each scene is observed through the thoughts and emotions of one of the characters. That character is the point of view (POV) character. As he or she speaks and interacts with other characters, the POV character reveals the story through their perceptions. A short story usually has only one point of view character; the novel, however, may have several POV characters. A novel may contain scenes in which one character serves as the POV character throughout most of the scenes. Other characters would then serve as POV characters in the remaining scenes.

Some writers struggle with using either first person or third person when creating a story. To find a solution, a writer may rewrite a scene in each. Each person has its advantages and disadvantages. The draft which the writer feels would be more enticing to the reader should answer the question.

Basic Scene Structure

What are a scene's basic elements?

Every scene has four elements:

Event and emotion

What makes an event in a scene?

Scene structure

Scene structure

Scene Pulse

Distinction between pulse and tension

Sources