Looking at a scene
The basic unit of storytelling
In school, we learned that the atom is the building block of all things. All things have atoms and are created with such. Every atom has a nucleus and positive and negative ions.
This is similar to storytelling, especially when it comes to prose. The scene is the atom. It is the building block of the story. It’s made of sentences, pacing, and characters. All of these elements, in a certain order, make a scene.
That’s what I’ve been focusing on lately. As I progress through the Murakami Challenge on my latest project, I've written myself toward a scene where I’ve got to take my time.
And I must confess, this is the kind of problem I LOVE to have. It’s a writer's problem. It's not a logistics problem or a “how am I going to get this done problem.” It’s the kind of problem that only drafting can solve. This is the carpentry part of the gig that I LIVE for.
How then am I going to solve this problem? I am taking an interesting approach using something I know, something I don’t, and something new. And let me tell you, the joy of problem-solving in writing is unparalleled. It’s like a puzzle that only I can solve, and it’s what keeps me engaged and excited in my craft.
Something I Know
If I know nothing about scene building, I know this, it’s about the rhythm and pulse of a story. How fast or how slow is determined by how well you consider a scene and sequel (or sequence).
The best explanation of this technique came from the Advanced Fiction Writing website. There’s lots of info here, but the big idea is that the rhythm of a scene is split into two sections. Let me explain it this way.
Section 1: Goal, conflict, disaster
Section 2: Reaction, dilemma, decision.
The decision part helps propel the narrative forward.
In section 1, what is the goal of the character, what is in the way/what are the obstacles, and then how does it all crumble? This is conflict. No conflict, no story. Conflict is the heart of storytelling. So, if your character achieves the goal, the story is over. For example, if the goal for your character is that they want the Hope Diamond, with the conflict being that it’s the most guarded piece of rock on the planet, then, somehow, they don’t get the diamond, no matter how well they planned the heist. Maybe someone got there first, or they stole a fake one while the real one was in an underground vault.
That disaster leads to the second part, which I like to call the regroup. What is the character’s reaction? What’s the new plan/new thing they didn’t know about/what are the stakes now? What’s the next step?
So, in the same example, the character is more heated than bacon on a skillet. How did they not know? Who didn’t do their job? There is no way they are calling it a day! They are still going after that diamond, and now the stakes are higher because one of their family members needs a life-saving surgery, and that diamond is going to pay for it. The next step? Call in reinforcements and develop a new heist.
See? I love going back to the scene and sequel; it helps you create a natural arc in the scene and keeps it moving nicely. I’ve seen thriller writers use this often and separate it with the scene in one chapter and the sequel in another, making the chapters shorter and quicker to read.
Refreshing my read of scene and sequel is going to be so helpful, except…
Something I Don’t Know
I don’t know what is next. What is the goal of this scene? Or, more importantly, what will happen after this scene?
I know that this confrontation scene has the purpose of showing the contrast of the characters — how they deal with issues of living in this world and what it’s doing to them personally. I know that from here the characters will not be as they are not. Not particularly close but not enemies.
And yet they are each other’s conflict, at least philosophically.
This is what I know about the scene and it’s goal at the moment. What happens after? One grabs a sandwich while the other one takes a nap? Who knows. But I think this is one of those things what if I write it, the idea will come. But I won’t give myself too much lag time one it. It could be that I may have to write around it. We’ll see.
Something New
Flip it. I’m using AI. So, before you get all huffy, I am not using AI to write the scene for me. There are too many ethics issues with having a non-human write about how humans would react in a scene.
Instead, I’m having it outline the scene for me by beats. I am using the parameters and the background leading up to the scene to outline what could happen. Since the work is still in progress, I can’t share the prompt, but I can share how it broke it down. It is organized by setting, characters, and scene progression. Then, the progression gave me dialogue beats — the beginning, the shift, one character’s dilemma, and the other’s reaction. Then, a conclusion.
It’s enough of an outline to put something on the page but I’m not completely in love with it. It’ll do for now and it’s at least a jumping off point.
AI is also helping me visualize the scene. Going to Nighcafe Studio, an AI image creator, I had to describe the physical scene where it takes place to get an image. What do the characters look like, what do the uniforms look like, what was the expression on their faces. Night or Day? Are they alone or with other people?
Writing the prompt for what I was imagining in my head is helping me get into the scene a lot better. It’s almost like it’s coming to life a bit. Also, AI doesn’t know what to do with things like hands and smoke. I gave it a couple of goes. Here’s the best I could do.
Neither of them are quite close enough to what I’m envisioning but it’s a starting point.
I want to write more later on how to use AI for creative writing as inspiration and focus. Watch out for that entry in the coming weeks.
So this is how I’ll get into my scene. Knowing that part of the Murakami Challenge is revising on several levels over a long period of time, it’s more important to get something on the page so that I have something to chisel at when the time comes.
Wish me luck, okay? I’ll report back soon.
