Three Ingredients for a Strong Scene + Giveaway!

Today, I have a special treat for you guys! The lovely Becca Puglisi, one half of The Bookshelf Muse blogging duo, is here to talk about creating strong scenes. She recently co-authored The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression and let me tell you, this woman really knows her stuff!

"Through an easy-to-use list format, this brainstorming tool explores seventy-five emotions and provides a large selection of body language, internal sensations, actions and thoughts associated with each."  

Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? Well, you're in luck! Becca & Angela have graciously agreed to give a PDF copy of The Emotion Thesaurus to one of my lucky readers. All you have to do is use the widget at the end of this post. I added a ton of options, so enter however you like. :) This giveaway ends June 09, 2012 at 12:01 a.m. (EST).

Take it away, Becca!

Three Ingredients of a Good Scene

OK, so it takes more than three things to make a good scene. But Carrie has graciously allowed me to post at her blog today, and if I’d like to be asked back, a total takeover on my part seems ill-advised. So I’m limiting myself to three things every single scene in your story must have for it to be successful. Much of this is shamelessly stolen from Save the Cat (Blake Snyder for president!), but as authors, aren’t we all just glorified thieves? So let’s embrace the dark side and move forward, shall we?

Ingredient #1: A GOAL. Every scene contains a main character, and in every scene, the main character wants something. Maybe he wants to open an enchanted door (The Hobbit, chapter 11). Or possibly, he’d just like to get away from his horrific guardians (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, chapter 3). Regardless, if there is no goal, the reader doesn’t have anything to root for. There’s no momentum, no movement. For every scene in your manuscript, ask yourself, What does my main character want? If you can’t find an answer, create one. There must be a goal in every single scene to maintain reader interest and keep the pace moving forward.

Image Credit: popsique

Ingredient #2: CONFLICT. Once you’ve figured out what your character wants in the scene, ask this question: What’s standing in the way of my hero achieving his goal? In the above examples, Bilbo can’t open the door because it’s been enchanted to only open on a specific, undisclosed day; conflict arises as time passes and his companions begin to turn on him. The Dursleys dislike Harry as much as he dislikes them, but they have the power; every interaction with them simultaneously reinforces his goal and keeps him from attaining it. Why is conflict so important? As Snyder says, conflict is primal. It gets our attention. Conflict, and the tension it creates, is what keeps the reader engaged.

Ingredient #3: EMOTIONAL CHANGE. Character emotion drives reader emotion. If your character’s emotion doesn’t go anywhere, your readers won’t connect with him and they lose interest. (I’m seeing a pattern here). So the third question to ask about any particular scene is: What emotion is my character feeling at the start of the scene, and what does he feel at the end of the scene? For the reader to be emotionally involved, the character must experience an up or down change in emotion. Bilbo starts the scene excited (when the path to the hidden entrance is discovered), then moves to despair (when the weeks pass and they can’t open the door) and finishes the scene elated (when the door finally opens). Poor Harry starts out resigned to his miserable summer but quickly becomes hopeful when the mysterious letters start arriving. If your character’s emotions aren’t changing, then nothing must be happening, and if nothing is happening, the reader will lose interest. Make sure that in each scene, your character experiences a change of emotion.

If, when looking at a scene, you find that you don’t have an answer to any of the above questions, either create one or examine the scene’s necessity to the story. It could be that the scene has no true purpose and should be cut to make your story stronger.

And now that I’ve disclosed my three favorite ingredients of a good scene, I’ll ask you to complete the recipe. What else, besides a goal, conflict, and emotional change, should every scene contain?

Becca Puglisi is one half of The Bookshelf Muse blogging duo, and co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression. Listing the body language, visceral reactions and thoughts associated with 75 different emotions, this brainstorming guide is a valuable tool for showing, not telling, emotion. The Emotion Thesaurus is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Smashwords, and the PDF can be purchased directly from her blog.

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Have a great week, guys! ♥

P.S. Don't be silly, Becca. You two are always welcome here! :)