Writing The Perfect Scene

[Vaz]

An interesting and well written article with advice on how to construct the "perfect" scenes in your Novel.


Writing The Perfect Scene: Advanced Fiction Writing Tips

 

[Brian G Turner]

That's an interesting distinction between Scene and Sequel...

 

[MWagner]

That's nothing new if you've read the Techniques of the Selling Writer. However, it is nice to see it laid out in a tidy summary. The problem with Swain's book is the organization and layout. Nests of lists and points that go three and four levels deep, without any summaries.

 

[Ihe]

The article lays it out neatly, and I'll admit it paints a simple picture that almost makes me believe I can write the next Great Novel if I just get to it (and follow these rules, ofc), despite the disclaimer that structure is only half the battle. I'm not mocking the boildown though, as it was highly informative and I'm sure it'll keep me on my toes come structuring/re-structuring time. Definitely learnt something here today, if only to make me cast a second glance at a scene.

That's nothing new if you've read the Techniques of the Selling Writer. However, it is nice to see it laid out in a tidy summary. The problem with Swain's book is the organization and layout. Nests of lists and points that go three and four levels deep, without any summaries.

Maybe Swain should've adapted some of those MRUs to the instructional genre of his book to make it more readable .

 

[Fishbowl Helmet]

It's a good article on structure, but it glosses over what actually makes a scene perfect (that 'powerful emotional experience') and doesn't even mention how to go about evoking those emotions. Getting the structure 'right' is only part of the trick of the craft.

 

[zmunkz]

That article is a good summary of Dwight Swain’s book, although there are a lot more details in the book that are worth exploring.