Writing Fiction: Scene, Part 1

A novel consists of scenes.

The way that you string your scenes together determines your plot, which is simply the events that happen to your characters.

All fiction must have scenes. Without scenes, there is no story. Once you understand how to structure a scene, you will be able to write powerful scenes that will produce page-turning novels.

Goal

The POV character for each scene must have a goal. The reader must understand that goal and what will happen if the POV character doesn’t attain that goal. For example, in a romance a scene goal may be for the heroine to find out the name of the hero. You can state the goal through action, dialogue, or description. Perhaps, the heroine is attending a party and she notices a handsome man across the room. She could mention to her friend, “That guy is so attractive over there. I have to find out his name. If I don’t, I’ll never be the same.” Dialogue tends to be the easiest way to state a character’s goal as well as what will happen if the character doesn’t attain the goal.

Conflict

After the goal is stated, the scene must include some conflict or obstacles to that stated goal. In keeping with the romance example, maybe the heroine attempts to cross the room and someone, like her boss, intercepts her before she can reach the hero. Then she spots him outside by the pool, but before she can approach him, another woman begins talking to him. Again, she tries to track him down by the food table, but a waiter spills a drink down the front of her dress and she has to run to the bathroom to wash it off. One obstacle after another prevents the heroine from attaining her goal.

Disaster

The next part of the scene is the disaster. The word disaster may conjure up ideas of earthquakes, floods, fires, or deaths, but in a scene, the disaster is simply not allowing the POV character to attain his/her goal. So with this example, after the heroine emerges from the bathroom, she can’t find the handsome man and she is thwarted in her attempt to obtain his name.

In the next installment, I’ll explain the rest of the structure: reaction, dilemma, decision.