Learning to write stronger scenes is an important skill for any writer. Scenes are an essential part of storytelling, and if you don’t craft them well, your narrative can grind to a halt. The reason scenes are so important is because they are the smallest unit of a story that contains all the key elements: character, plot, world, and theme. These four elements appear across the narrative. A scene is a microcosm of the greater story, with all four essential components represented.
I’ve written about why scenes are so crucial in the past and how those four essential story elements contribute to the story’s scenes. In this Writer Fuel, I’m going to hone in on six scene-related pitfalls writers might run into.
1) No Agency
One of the most important aspects of storytelling is that the character must have agency. Your book can’t just be a series of random events buffeting the protagonist to and fro. These characters need to make choices, and those choices must influence the events of the story in some way.
This is why a key moment in every scene is where the character makes a choice. This choice does not have to be earth-shattering. Every scene doesn’t have to be like Katniss Everdeen volunteering to take her sister’s place in the Hunger Games. The choice can be small and subtle, but still needs to be present. A scene without the character making some sort of choice will feel rudderless and static, like the story isn’t going anywhere.
SOLUTION: Give your character agency by creating a situation where they need to make a decision and that choice moves the story forward.
2) Slow-to-Warm-Up Storytelling
Scenes where characters start off with pleasantries and small talk might seem realistic, but they slow down the pace of the story. Characters don’t need to talk about the weather or “how about those Knicks.” The scene needs to jump right to the things that matter to the story. This is why so many scenes (and stories overall) start in media res or “in the middle of things.”
Remember, you’re not trying to capture reality in your storytelling. Let’s face it: reality is often boring and slow. Stories are like reality but better. The reader gets a sense of verisimilitude (that the story feels real) but that doesn’t come from mimicking reality down to the letter. Instead, stories are like a heightened reality, like if reality left out all the boring parts and only consisted of the good stuff.
SOLUTION: Don’t hem and haw your way into a scene. Start at the moment where things get interesting. The reader will suspend their disbelief.
3) Too Much Backstory
It can be tempting to load up a scene with tons of backstory. After all, we don’t want our readers to get confused, so we might be tempted to give them all the information they need to understand what’s going on. The problem with this approach is that not all of that backstory might be relevant in that exact moment, and loading too much of it into a scene can feel like an info dump. Don’t get me wrong, backstory is important, but it should be used with moderation.
There are some backstory techniques (like flashbacks, for example) that allow you to share backstory in the form of an actual scene. But even flashbacks can slow the story’s pace if they’re not well-timed. Plus, if the flashback is not executed well, it can actually be worse for your story than if you left it out altogether. The danger zones for flashback scenes are the transitions, so if you choose to use this technique, be careful in those moments where you flash back to the past and then again when you return the scene to the present.
SOLUTION: Keep your reader on a need-to-know basis. In other words, only give the reader information they need to know when they need to know it.
4) Lack of Subtext
Most people (and most characters) don’t say exactly what they are thinking. They filter their thoughts, often to preserve their relationships. Like if a friend asked you what you thought of their positively hideous hat, you’d probably try to find something nice to say about it so as not to hurt their feelings. This is called subtext, when the dialogue isn’t strictly on-the-nose and the reader must “read between the lines.”
We create subtext in our scenes by having the character’s dialogue at odds with their actions, thoughts, or body language. At DIY MFA we talk about the four main ways to show characters on the page (thoughts, actions, dialogue, and appearance, or the TADA acronym) and subtext occurs whenever two or more of these elements are in conflict with each other. Subtext is interesting because it makes the reader more engaged in the storytelling. When a character’s dialogue (or behavior, or appearance) are too literal, there’s no room for inference and the reader might lose interest.
SOLUTION: Add a little subtext by pitting two or more of the TADA elements against each other. Make the character think one thing and say something completely different. Have their actions contradict their demeanor or body language. This adds depth and interest to your scenes.
5) Endless Crescendo / Abrupt End
One of the key elements of a scene is the “crescendo” or the ramp-up to the crucial moment. Sometimes writers craft a scene that’s all crescendo and it never actually reaches that key moment. (This key moment is usually a choice on the character’s part.) This endless crescendo can make the scene feel aimless, like it’s not really going anywhere.
A counterpoint to the endless crescendo is the abrupt end, where the scene simply evaporates after the character’s moment of choice. This lack of closure can leave a reader hanging and it can make the transition to the next scene feel jarring.
SOLUTION: Give a scene direction by having the character make a choice, and deal with the consequence of that choice. This not only gives the character agency, but it gives the scene an arc and sense of direction.
6) Out Of Place Scene
Sometimes we write scenes that seem really great in the moment, but as the story evolves they become out of place. This is why it’s important in the revision process to evaluate not just the content of the scene itself, but whether that scene adds to the story.
When I work with writers, I’ll often ask them to do a scene inventory, where they list out every single scene they have written with a 1-2 sentence summary of what happens in each scene. As part of this inventory, they must also state the purpose of each scene and why it’s important to the story. If they can’t state a reason why the scene is important, that’s usually a good sign that the scene might not be necessary.
SOLUTION: Go through your scenes and for each one ask yourself: “What’s the purpose?” If you can’t think of a good reason why the scene is in your story, consider leaving it out.
ONE CAVEAT: Even if a scene doesn’t make it into your story, don’t erase it entirely. Save it somewhere, in case it becomes useful later. You may not use it in this book, but it could become a great companion story or a “DVD extra” you include as a bonus for your superfans or newsletter subscribers. Even if it doesn’t end up in the final book, it can find a new life in some other form.
There you have it, seven scene-related mistakes to avoid. As with most writing advice, my suggestion is not to take these points too prescriptively, or it may squash your creativity. Instead, write your scenes with abandon. Have fun and follow the passion. Then, when you get to the revision stage, that’s when you should be on the lookout for these mistakes and rework your scenes accordingly.
Until next time, keep writing and keep being awesome!
P.S. For more info on Gabriela Pereira, the founder and instigator of DIY MFA, check out her profile page.
