Constructing a Novel – Writing Good Scene Flow

nicktraversauthor.com/artlicles/write-good-scene-flow

Scenes are the basic building blocks of a novel. Like bricks in a wall, if you build them in
the right order, you end up with a solid structure. But the same bricks can be used to build
a functional out-house, or a thing of beauty. So just how do you construct a scene that
works beautifully? [Wall picture]

Scene are stories.

Each scene is a mini story in its own right, so to work properly, just like any story, each
scene must have, as a bare minimum, a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Or to put it another way every scene needs a three line plot. This consists of:

A premise – what is the scene about.

A complication (one per scene) – (But) what difficulty do the characters have to
overcome and how do they overcome this complication.
A trigger – How overcoming the complication triggers the next complication that
needs to be overcome in the next scene.

For a more complicated scene I prefer to use a variation on the classic eight-part story arc.
Each chapter may be a single scene which follows this story arc, or may comprise of several
simpler scenes, each with a beginning. Middle, and end, that together form the story arc.

First, a quick reminder of the classic eight-part story arc:

Stasis: The way things are now, particularly the way the Protagonist is now – perhaps
lovelorn.

Trigger: Something happens to kick the story into motion – maybe a new boy arrives at
school.

Quest: This causes the Protagonist to go in search of something – treasure, love or

acceptance maybe.

Complication: The Protagonist meets one or more obstacles on the journey which have
to be overcome – perhaps a competitor or a love rival (Personified Antagonist) or a
situation that pulls them apart (Situational Antagonist).

Choice: The Protagonist has to make difficult decisions to overcome the complications
(Protagonist decides to confronts the Antagonist).

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 Climax: The decisions have consequences which lead to the dramatic highpoint of the
story (Protagonist actually confronts the Antagonist).

Reversal: The most important stage of all to create a satisfying story and the most often
left out – Show what changes the quest, complication(s), choice(s), and action(s) have
produced. These could be physical or in terms of your protagonist’s character – the
Protagonist has stood up to the Antagonist and won/lost, but the love interest switches
allegiance out of Admiration/compassion.

Resolution: The way things are now – Protagonist and love interest are deeply in love.

The Scene Arc

Here is how I adapt the above seven-point story arc to work on a scene basis:

Stasis: You only need to set he scene again if time has moved on from the last scene or
the action has moved to a new location or a new character. For instance, where the first
scene of a chapter does not follow on directly from the last scene of the previous chapter,
though, even if it does it is still useful sometimes to summarize.

Trigger: If the flow of your scenes is working right (more about scene flow below) the
trigger for this scene should have been in the previous scene for this character or situation.

Quest: What is the scene protagonist looking for in this scene. Different scenes can have
different protagonist and antagonists. This is where the sub-plots and side characters live
out their own stories in a novel. I always like to plan this out in advance so I know who is
doing what when.

Complication: Every scene needs a complication or a difficulty, however minor, to be

overcome by somebody. The complication or difficulty will have been set in a previous
scene or be the consequence of what happened in a previous scene.

Choice: One character, in each scene, will make at least a minor choice of some sort,
even if it is just a choice to take action, allow an emotion or feel a feeling. Make sure you
show that choice to your reader as this is part of each character’s individual development.

Climax: The high point in the action, drama or emotion, normally near the end of the
scene.

Reversal: Not normally necessary for a scene unless the scene is all about a character’s
critical choice and its consequences. Every character should have some sort of story to tell
as part of the novel. This could be show as scenes in a flash back that led to the stasis of
the story, or be part of a sub-plot that interweaves with the main plot. One thing I like to
do, is focus on the personal story or development of a side character over half a dozen
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scene or more. Somewhere in that mini story arc will be a critical choice, reversal, and new
stasis for that character. Sometimes the character change will be so subtle is it hardly
noticeable, but this sort of detail all adds to the depth of the novel and helps [build
meaning into your story].

Trigger: Unlike the overall Story Arc, most scenes end not with a Resolution, but with
the trigger for the next scene in the character’s scene flow. This keeps the story moving
and the reader turning the pages. The trigger would normally by a consequence of the
complication or difficulty tackled in the scene. If it is the last scene in a chapter, then
classically the trigger could be a cliff-hanger to the first scene in the next chapter or the
next scene involving that character. Crucially, you must have a good grasp of your scene
flows.

Scene Flow
If you are anything like me, once you have an idea of where your story is going, you will
probably have started to write out some of the key scenes along the story arc. Let’s face it,
that’s the fun part; that’s why we write.

Now you need to tie all the scenes together and plan how you are going to get from one
scene major scene to another. The key thing to remember is that every scene in a story arc,
subplot, or character development, except the first, must be the direct consequence of what
happened in another scene. Often this is the scene before it, but not always.

If you can’t work out a particular scene flow then work backwards. What has to happen in
scene Y in order for scene Z to happen, what has to happen in scene X for scene Y to
happen, what needs to happen in scene W… you get the idea.

Avoid Unexpected Surprises

This technique is also called the Proverbial Shotgun technique. Named after it’s classic use
in cowboy westerns films, where in the descriptive shot of a bar scene, the camera happens
to zoom in on a shotgun hung behind the bar. The existence of this weapon has now been
raised in the consciousness of the viewer, so it MUST be used by the end of the story. If it
is not used there is a risk that the viewer, or in your case your reader, will feel deprived or
short-changed.

As you are both the creator and editor of your story, it is easy to re-write an earlier scene, as
I am doing, to include the shotgun or add in a completely new scene showing your
character knows how to use a shotgun.

The Pre-figuring/Proverbial Shotgun technique has an evil twin, called ‘Deus Ex-Machina’
(God out of the machine) – a cheap story device introduced to rescue a failing plot line: If
the shotgun is suddenly produced to resolve a critical plot-line, without having been shown
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first, readers may feel cheated, because they never had the opportunity to anticipate this
scene. In my scene from Coggler’s Brood, mentioned above, the Derringer could be
considered deus ex-machina, until I have pre-figured it into the story in an earlier scene.

So if your character is suddenly going to jump on a waste cart to escape a horde of flesh-
eating zombies, it is always best to show the characters doing something with the waste cart
in an earlier scene.

Secrets of the Scene Brief

We all have aspects of writing we are good at and other areas we need to work on. The
Scene Brief is a writing process borrowed from script writing that enables me to focus on
writing different aspects of my scenes at different times by layering techniques one on top
of the other. This is how it works:

Consult your scene plan, story board, or whatever you are using to keep your novel
on track, to remind you of the key elements of your scene.
Re-read the previous scene that triggers this scene.
Write the first draft of your scene just as it comes to you. Put the scene aside for a bit
before going on to the next step.
Re-read your scene plan, story board, or whatever you are using to keep your novel
on track, to remind you of the key elements of your scene.
Next work through the technical aspects of the scene filling out any of the steps of the
story arc, character arcs, or sub-plots you missed, and rearranging any elements of
the scene to make it flow correctly.
Re draft your scene, packing in as much color and description as you can using all
five senses, together with characters’ thoughts and feelings. Also, add in as many
similes, metaphors, and back-story as you can – you won’t use all this material in
your final draft, but you will be surprised how much you do use. Editing stuff out is
much easier than editing stuff in.
I like to write visually, so I add in an additional layer where I include camera
instructions – zoom in for this detail, swing round to catch that action, pan out for
the whole picture. For a zoom I slow the action down and add in the detail from the
scene brief, for a pan shot I edit out most of the detail and write with a broad brush.
Finally, bring it all together by reading the scene out loud: cutting out any excess
action, description, similes, metaphors etc and editing for spelling, grammar, and
word/sentence flow.

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