greyblob
"Staff Memeber" pleasr
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2021
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This is an attempt at deconstructing the scene and creating a formula for it. The objective is not to discard or marginalise the creative process but to reinforce and guide it.
Any scene consists of a bunch of properties. I only want to focus on
What is the point of this scene? What purpose does it serve? Is it necessary? If I remove it, will the story be affected?
Structure and vision
This is a bit abstract. How will this scene be structured? How will it look? Do I want it to be linear (intro-climax-end) or something a little different.
Perspective
The perspective the scene is told from.
Setting
Setting of the scene. Very important. Best resource for improvisation.
Details
For this section I wanted to make a cheatsheet by categorizing similar details into sections.
Constructing a scene
I have two routes here. Either I know the purpose or I have the vision.
How do I approach this? This is a subjective process. Everyone will have their way of going about it. I usually start by thinking of a plausible action or scenario. This is an artist. He's broke. He wants to make some money. He tries selling his art. Art gallery.
Now, I have a scenario and a setting. The artist will be at an art gallery trying to showcase his craft and maybe catch the eyes of a patron.
What's left now is figuring out how the scene will be structured? I want an oomph, a shock. I don't want to start slow and build up speed, so I'll get straight into it.
I'll cut this scene here. It's good enough for this demonstration. This piece is about the artist. I want to keep the mysterious man, well, mysterious, so a limited POV from Richard is suitable.
Details
Details are the lifeblood of any scene, otherwise it is just a summary. I'll be using the cheatsheet as a reference.
The first bit of detail is about Richard.
Like scenes, paragraph have a purpose, one that's a tad more focused. Paragraphs have a main purpose. This paragraph introduces Richard as a painter and shows his desperation. There are two subjects here, Richard, obviously, and the painting. I have already established Richard's characteristics above, but what about his painting.
I can raise a few questions here. Sensory, first. What does the painting looks like? Perception. How does Richard feel about it? I'd like to keep it's appearance a mystery, mainly because I am lazy, and secondly because I can pretend it's a creative choice as it doesn't matter what the painting looked like, the entity wanted to approach Richard regardless. Small details can lead to big conclusions.
Now I'd like to address Richard's mental state. He's nervous and anxious. He's in an unfamiliar environment looking for a possible buyer or patron. But what is this environment and how does it look, smell, and sound.
Now onto the entity. I want it to be:
- Confident
- Charming
- Eloquent
Currently, the entity's entrance is him suddenly speaking behind Richard.
But as I developed the scene, I've detailed that our MC is alone right now. Do I want this entity to appear out of thin air? No, not particularly. So, I'll turn this paragraph into a series of actions. First, it appears and heads towards him.
This is alright. I can describe him further if i wish when he gets closer. Now, I'd like to make the entity a little odd.
After writing this and having him have a weirdly strong and wide gait, I want to change this
It's all connected together and changes on the fly are quite common as the scene develops. Sometimes, the changes are drastic, sometimes they're not.
Now, for the interaction between the two. I still want to further describe the man as he got closer.
I'm not liking the next paragraph. Doesn't feel like it fits here. There's an eerie quality built already and having Richard instantly horrified kinda defeats the purpose. I'll continue the scene from here.
This is the last section. Doesn't look too bad. Again, I'll simply add some details for flavour.
The final result looks like this.
This approach is a little tricky, especially if this scene is in the middle of a running novel. I have a vision for a really good scene but I'm not sure how to fit it.
I'll start by asking why is this painter important. Is he going to be a recurring character or is he in just this one scene?
Why was this portal opened and what are the possible consequences for it? Another question here would be how does this scene fit in the story.
Let's assume I have a fantasy medieval story. The MC is an adventurer who only accepts odd quests. Our MC is less of a fighter and more of an investigator. His latest quest is about... something missing. This something needs to link to our painter somehow.
Maybe there's been some disappearances happening, specifically targeting rich people. The victims are killed and mutilated and parts of their bodies are eaten. There's a great reward for finding the monster responsible. MC finds that the victims all have recently bought some paintings from the same painter. He traces him down to his home and is apprehended somehow.
This is a very convoluted solution but it's an interesting way of coming up with plot lines. The next steps are the same as the one above. I already have my scenario and setting. The POV will be from my MC. What's left is to outline the scene and creating a rough like above. Then following up by adding details and polishing the scene.
The quality of the article is not the greatest but it'll do for now as I don't have access to decent editing tools atm. Again, this is not a guide by any means but I'm hoping this was an interesting or useful read. Any questions are appreciated.
Any scene consists of a bunch of properties. I only want to focus on
- Purpose
- Structure and vision
- Perspective
- Setting
- Details
What is the point of this scene? What purpose does it serve? Is it necessary? If I remove it, will the story be affected?
Structure and vision
This is a bit abstract. How will this scene be structured? How will it look? Do I want it to be linear (intro-climax-end) or something a little different.
Perspective
The perspective the scene is told from.
Setting
Setting of the scene. Very important. Best resource for improvisation.
Details
For this section I wanted to make a cheatsheet by categorizing similar details into sections.
- Sensory
- Sight
- Color
- Shape
- Touch
- Texture
- Temperature
- Sensation
- Smell
- Sound
- Internal
- External
- Taste
- Sight
- Motion
- Action
- Movement/Gestures
- Conscious
- Subconscious
- Perception
- Thoughts
- Memories
- Emotions
Constructing a scene
I have two routes here. Either I know the purpose or I have the vision.
- I know the purpose
How do I approach this? This is a subjective process. Everyone will have their way of going about it. I usually start by thinking of a plausible action or scenario. This is an artist. He's broke. He wants to make some money. He tries selling his art. Art gallery.
Now, I have a scenario and a setting. The artist will be at an art gallery trying to showcase his craft and maybe catch the eyes of a patron.
What's left now is figuring out how the scene will be structured? I want an oomph, a shock. I don't want to start slow and build up speed, so I'll get straight into it.
I'll cut this scene here. It's good enough for this demonstration. This piece is about the artist. I want to keep the mysterious man, well, mysterious, so a limited POV from Richard is suitable.
Details
Details are the lifeblood of any scene, otherwise it is just a summary. I'll be using the cheatsheet as a reference.
The first bit of detail is about Richard.
- He's an artist
- He's broke
- He's desperate
- He's nervous
Like scenes, paragraph have a purpose, one that's a tad more focused. Paragraphs have a main purpose. This paragraph introduces Richard as a painter and shows his desperation. There are two subjects here, Richard, obviously, and the painting. I have already established Richard's characteristics above, but what about his painting.
I can raise a few questions here. Sensory, first. What does the painting looks like? Perception. How does Richard feel about it? I'd like to keep it's appearance a mystery, mainly because I am lazy, and secondly because I can pretend it's a creative choice as it doesn't matter what the painting looked like, the entity wanted to approach Richard regardless. Small details can lead to big conclusions.
Needs to be polished but good enough. The painting now has a negative connotation for Richard: a little bit of foreshadowing for what's to come.
Now I'd like to address Richard's mental state. He's nervous and anxious. He's in an unfamiliar environment looking for a possible buyer or patron. But what is this environment and how does it look, smell, and sound.
Not too shabby I think. I've addressed Richard, the painting, and the environment.
Now onto the entity. I want it to be:
- Confident
- Charming
- Eloquent
Currently, the entity's entrance is him suddenly speaking behind Richard.
But as I developed the scene, I've detailed that our MC is alone right now. Do I want this entity to appear out of thin air? No, not particularly. So, I'll turn this paragraph into a series of actions. First, it appears and heads towards him.
This is alright. I can describe him further if i wish when he gets closer. Now, I'd like to make the entity a little odd.
After writing this and having him have a weirdly strong and wide gait, I want to change this
to something a little more forceful like this:
It's all connected together and changes on the fly are quite common as the scene develops. Sometimes, the changes are drastic, sometimes they're not.
Now, for the interaction between the two. I still want to further describe the man as he got closer.
I'm not liking the next paragraph. Doesn't feel like it fits here. There's an eerie quality built already and having Richard instantly horrified kinda defeats the purpose. I'll continue the scene from here.
This is the last section. Doesn't look too bad. Again, I'll simply add some details for flavour.
The final result looks like this.
- I have the vision
This approach is a little tricky, especially if this scene is in the middle of a running novel. I have a vision for a really good scene but I'm not sure how to fit it.
I'll start by asking why is this painter important. Is he going to be a recurring character or is he in just this one scene?
Why was this portal opened and what are the possible consequences for it? Another question here would be how does this scene fit in the story.
Let's assume I have a fantasy medieval story. The MC is an adventurer who only accepts odd quests. Our MC is less of a fighter and more of an investigator. His latest quest is about... something missing. This something needs to link to our painter somehow.
Maybe there's been some disappearances happening, specifically targeting rich people. The victims are killed and mutilated and parts of their bodies are eaten. There's a great reward for finding the monster responsible. MC finds that the victims all have recently bought some paintings from the same painter. He traces him down to his home and is apprehended somehow.
This is a very convoluted solution but it's an interesting way of coming up with plot lines. The next steps are the same as the one above. I already have my scenario and setting. The POV will be from my MC. What's left is to outline the scene and creating a rough like above. Then following up by adding details and polishing the scene.
The quality of the article is not the greatest but it'll do for now as I don't have access to decent editing tools atm. Again, this is not a guide by any means but I'm hoping this was an interesting or useful read. Any questions are appreciated.
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