[stylist] scene and sequel

[Donna Hill]

This is brilliant!  Thanks for posting it.  I keep a words & usage 
folder for stuff like this.
Donna

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The Crowd wrote:
> Below is the explanation from my class then I'll give my example:
> Scene and Sequel: The Basics
>
> All successful fiction is made up of two-and only two-elements: scenes 
> and sequels. They may be different lengths and written in different 
> styles, viewpoints,
>
> and tenses, but every piece of successful fiction, when you break it 
> down, looks like this:
>
> The basics of successful fiction
>
> The purpose of each scene is to move the story forward. It's where the 
> conflict and action occur. The purpose of each sequel is to give your 
> character a
>
> chance to react to what happened in the scene.
>
> These components should almost always be the same and occur in the 
> same order. The structure works, and it's about the closest thing I 
> can think of to a
>
> guarantee of success in fiction writing.
>
> Scenes
>
> Every scene has the following three elements:
>
> list of 3 items
>
> .. Goal
>
> .. Conflict
>
> .. Disaster
>
> list end
>
> These elements should always occur in this order. A scene may involve 
> any character, but for the purposes of our discussion, I'll assume the 
> viewpoint character
>
> is your protagonist.
>
> If you just start writing without understanding what your protagonist 
> hopes to accomplish in the next few paragraphs, you won't know where 
> you're going.
>
> Neither will your protagonist. And neither will your readers.
>
> So your protagonist begins each scene with a goal. It may be something 
> as simple as answering the telephone or as complex as breaking into a 
> maximum-security
>
> facility. Whatever it is, this is the goal for the entire scene.
>
> Next comes conflict. And yes, you must have conflict in every single 
> scene of your novel. Without it, there's no reason to write the scene. 
> And there's
>
> no reason for your readers to read it.
>
> Something as simple as a ringing phone, for example, could be bursting 
> with potential conflict. It could awaken your protagonist in the 
> middle of the night
>
> with bad news, a family emergency, or a menacing message from a 
> stalker. Or it could be a wrong number, which crushes the hopes of the 
> protagonist as she
>
> waits to receive urgent news.
>
> If you can't come up with any conflict, then why include the scene? If 
> it serves no purpose, cut it.
>
> The final part of the scene is a disaster. This event may be large or 
> small, but it's this sense of perpetual setback that creates dramatic 
> tension and
>
> keeps us reading. You'll often find the disaster in information the 
> protagonist receives. And sometimes you can even use a reverse 
> disaster-something too
>
> good to be true-to end the scene. Your protagonist may not know that 
> her hope is naïve, but your readers do!
>
> Once the disaster occurs, your protagonist must react to it. This 
> happens in the sequel.
>
> Sequels
>
> As with the scene, the sequel has a fixed set of elements you should 
> almost always use in the same order:
>
> list of 4 items
>
> .. Emotion
>
> .. Thought
>
> .. Decision
>
> .. Action
>
> list end
>
> The emotion is your protagonist's immediate response to the disaster 
> that ended the scene.
>
> You'll follow emotion with the protagonist trying to reason out what 
> happened and why. This thought process is often erroneous, but it 
> always occurs. For
>
> example, if the protagonist is struggling with the larger situation, 
> she may completely misinterpret everyone's motives. So she most likely 
> won't correctly
>
> identify the reasons behind the conflict or the disaster of the 
> preceding scene.
>
> Thinking leads naturally to decision-making. The decision may be large 
> or small, and it may even be a decision to not decide anything yet.
>
> Action then follows decision. The action usually leads into the next 
> scene, often with some exposition that compresses time, such as, 
> "Having decided to
>
> travel, she packed her bags and took a taxi to the airport." The scene 
> that follows would presumably occur on her arrival, either at the 
> airport or at
>
> her final destination or perhaps while in transit.
>
>
>
> My example:
> Using exposed trees roots I carefully climbed the embankment. A damp 
> chill turned the night clammy, unhealthy. My guts felt the same way, 
> past scared and on the way to desperate. (Goal) I had to stop Brent, 
> no matter what.
>
> At the top (conflict) I knew he'd used magic; I could smell it. It was 
> too dark to see the glisten, but that hot sweet spice was a shield.
>
> Staying to the bluest shadows I made my way to the circle of pain.
>
> My mind kept replaying the same maniacal slide show. Lily's pale thin 
> face; the torment in her green eyes; Brent's finger prints on her 
> shoulders and arms, shiny, like ice. (disaster) Distracted by the 
> memory of our last encounter, I ran face first into the shield.
>
> (Emotion) My heart shook free and tried to squeeze its way into my 
> throat, my stomach bottomed out! I fell into the weeds, an incantation 
> on my lips.
>
> (Thought)Before a single burning word left my lips, I breathed back in 
> the magic. Right now Brent didn't know who'd touched his barrier. If I 
> used the concealing spell he probably wouldn't find me, but he'd know 
> I'd come. And the hunt would begin for real.
>
> (Decision) The only thing to do was wait. (Action) I got to my feet, 
> and silent as a wish, I backed away from the shield. When its perfume 
> faded I conjured a hide. To anyone looking I appeared to be just 
> another tree.
>
>
> ---
> I found this hard at first and I still am crap at finding it in other 
> sstories, but I'm working on it.
> Thanks for asking Robert.
>
> Me
> Life is short ...forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly,
> laugh uncontrollably...
> and never regret anything that made you smile
>
> "Qui docet, discit."
> "He who teaches, learns"
>
> I have learned that people will forget what you said,
> people will forget what you did,
> but people will never forget how you made them feel.
> Maya Angelou
>
>
>
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