Writing a Novel Scene

The scene is the most essential component of fiction. It has a verbal content where you have lines spoken by the characters. For instance, you may have a young girl being ardently courted by a man. A scene also has a nonverbal content.

If a fiction story writer has convinced the readers of what he wants them to think, then the scene is a successful one. In every scene, there is a conflict that one or more characters have to face. The way the characters deal with these conflicts tell us something about them. It also lets the story progress. There are good exercises that can help beginning novel writers to develop their novel writing skills to construct scenes. This is one exercise that novice novelists can practice. Get a list of simple elements such as:

* a transportation strike causing downtown traffic

* a young business man named David Williams, has aggressive personality and faced with many business plights

* Joey Smith, fresh and successful lawyer yet unhappy with his profession

These are only examples. The list may go on as you desire. Using these elements, give yourself 30 minutes to construct a scene that makes use of the elements and leads to a significant conclusion. You will be amazed how easy it is to construct a scene and how other scenes logically come to mind instantaneously just after you've thought of one. When constructing a scene, a freelance novelist or someone who is hiring a ghostwriter should know what they want to show their reader regarding the characters and their predicaments. Once the writer has decided on this, producing the scenes is already very easy.

So the fiction writer needs to take into account the events that are put into the story. Make sure that they will help you influence the readers on how you want them to think of your characters, your characters' traits and values. Write down rational and believable events that will effectively reveal the attributes of your characters.

Sometimes, scenes will present themselves consequentially after you have had your plot. For example, if your protagonist is on a flight to a certain destination, maybe some people from the customs are going to go against her from some reason and the protagonist faces up to this people. This is only an example and there are actually numerous of automatic scenes that will suggest themselves to you.

There are no specifications on the length of a scene, for as long as it is able to convey the message to the readers. A scene could comprise of a single sentence or it could run to as far as 20 pages. The goals of every scene should be met by the time that it ends: to let the readers be more familiar with the characters and the conflicts should have intensified. It is not necessary to set an endless series of conflicts. What is meant is that once the characters succeed on one conflict, another tenser scene follows. After the hero has gotten rid of the terrorist bomb, he becomes a celebrated man. But the terrorists are furious and they plan a scheme to kill him and his loved ones.

There should be as few characters as possible involved in a scene. If your plot however, require you, to include several realistic characters in your story such as in cases when your protagonist is a commanding officer of a military quad, or the head of a school, then follow this tip. Introduce your protagonist first before any character in the story. Put him in a scene that will give the readers ideas on his personality and nature. After that you can establish another scene where each of the supporting characters can be phased in. Make sure that this scene will also be beneficial in the exposure of the qualities of the protagonist. This should also help in the progress of the plot.

If you can successfully build interest from the readers to the different character, then this is a great step in your success of building up their interest in the whole story.

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On Writing a Novel Well - What Is Meant by the Reveal in a Story?

In writing, the reveal is the key element that explains what has enabled a story to hold the reader's interest, and a component that is generally retained until the last possible moment. Many a book is judged by how well this is handled. If the work is strong, commonly this is because the finale contains a riveting reveal, yet it doesn't always mean this occurs at the very end of the story. More on this later.

Certain Genres Lend themselves to Great Reveals

By their very nature, mysteries and thrillers are the most obvious genres for which scintillating reveals would seem best suited. But romances, fantasy, YA, and every other genre demand a reveal. If not, a story's premise would never be accepted by the reader. Material falls short when the narrative doesn't finish with a powerful enough reveal. Simply, the ending doesn't live up to the plot elements. And nothing is more frustrating for a reader than to be left unfulfilled because a plausible "answer" didn't materialize.

At Times it Works Best to Write the Ending First

I often suggest to authors who habitually have struggled with endings to write them first. In this way, they can craft material to meet the standards their respective reveals require, and not the other way around. It's sort of like writing a joke, since commonly the punchline is created initially and the material leading up to it is figured out later.

The Reveal and the Denouement Can Be the Same, but Not Always

It's easy to slip into the mold of thinking that a reveal and a denouement are always interchangeable, but they aren't, and this is the point I was making at the end of the first paragraph of this article. For a literary example, in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, while Quasimodo's bones turning to dust at the very end is indeed startling, the booties earlier being assigned to Esmeralda is the reveal the reader has been "waiting for."

Examples of Books with Great Reveals

Stories don't require the planet to be saved via a 24-style, heart-stopping set of reveals. What makes a work memorable--and as a byproduct, often remarkable--is a reveal that enables the reconciliation of an "open" plot element, or which adds and answers an unexpected twist set up by an earlier plot point.

Some of my favorite reveals are provided via the classics, with THE AGE OF INNOCENCE perhaps illustrating the quintessential example of a reveal, since the "entire story" happens 100,000 words into a 101,500-word work. In the more contemporary market, I liked the way Amy Tan finished THE JOY LUCK CLUB, E. L. Doctorow's treatment of BILLY BATHGATE, and Ken Follett's heart-warming conclusion to THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE.

Robert L. Bacon, Founder
The Perfect Write?

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Writing on the Go - Screenwriting and Novel Writing

Writing on the go is helpful for busy writers. Although routines and habits are effective, do not limit your writing to one certain place, time, or atmosphere. Everyday during your customary activities, there will always be "down time," moments when you have nothing else to do and no important matters to which you must attend. You can take this down time as an opportunity to jot down ideas in your project bible. You can write a few lines or notes to your rough draft if you use the time thinking. It doesn't necessarily have to happen in a specific place or time. An audio recorder is also an indispensable tool for writers because you can instantly record your ideas in the absence of a table, pen and paper. Furthermore, people's minds often run faster than they can type.

Dead time could be while you are waiting in a doctor's office, on a bus, or walking home. Writing on the go will help you become more productive and write when you may have though you had no time. There are endless opportunities to write on the go. Then, you can add these ideas to your finished text when you have reached your main writing place.

These are important general habits that each writer should develop to become an efficient novelist. But knowing these time-saving, novel writing tips are not enough. It is also important that you understand the stages of novel-writing to adapt other kinds of effective writing habits. Writing on the go will help you to complete that novel or screenplay faster than you thought possible.

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Article Submitted On: October 18, 2010

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