Effective Scene Outlines
Effective Scene Outlines
Knowing how to structure a scene is a crucial skill for novel writers, as they are the mini events that serve as the building blocks for your story.
A scene captures an event that usually happens in a single unit of space and time, and should move the story forward, involving some sort of internal or external conflict.
To a certain degree, scenes should be able to stand alone but keep a reader engaged and motivated to read further. Each unit should reveal actions, reactions, and dilemmas faced by the viewpoint character, and there should be a clear beginning and end to every scene in your book.
Scene Structure
Well-structured scenes serve as the building blocks for a quality story. While its fair enough that many writers (Pantsters) like to just start writing and see where it takes them, they will greatly benefit from going back and structuring the scene properly once they’ve seen where it’s gone.
Think of every scene as part of an intricate web that’s carefully interwoven with the other scenes, while directly linking the neighboring sections.
Consider the natural sequences of cause and effect, action and reaction, and question and answer.
While these big-picture ideas are more about arranging the scenes within the story (try experimenting with a Novel Board to discover the ideal arrangement of scenes), we will go into further detail here about how to structure a single scene unit.
Sequels generally follow scenes (which we won’t go into too much detail about here), but they are the follow-up or reflection on the action scene. If a scene involves a heated rendezvous, then the sequel may be the heroine reminiscing about it on her way home. A chance meeting with an opponent may be charged with action, and then the sequel might be the discussion the protagonist had with his partner about the encounter.
Both scenes and sequels dictate the pace of your book. This is something that should be considered when planning, drafting and editing. Longer scenes and sequels – or even long scenes with short sequels – will slow the pace of the story; whereas, shorter scenes and sequels intensify the pace.
Broad Structure
Before mapping out a scene, let’s consider the broad structure. We’ll break it down into the beginning, middle, and end.
Beginning – A strategic hook.
This entices the reader to start guessing and moving through the scene. Usually, hooks that are placed at the beginning of a scene are quite subtle. For example, a man may see an unknown name in the list of his wife’s sent emails, but he doesn’t have time at that moment to find out more. Or a woman may receive a letter, recognizing the handwriting of the sender, but she is in company and will need to wait to open it in private. It is in these moments that the reader consciously decides that they’ll read more of the story.
Middle – Development of character and story.
The middle of a scene will move the story forward, showing development in events, as well as development in the viewpoint character’s ideas, motivations, and attitudes.
End – The mini-climax.
The mini-climax occurs at the end of a scene, usually leaving the reader in suspense. This could be the discovery of a major obstacle, a mid-action cliff-hanger scenario, or a more subtle newfound motivation as a result of information that’s just been uncovered.
What Should Be Included?
Rules don’t need to be overly strict when outlining a scene. Structure exists as a guide, but if things are forced, or unnecessary details are included, it will take away from the flow of the story. So, use the guides and then manipulate as you see fit for the purposes of your novel.
Conflict
Conflict exists to challenge your characters and keep your readers interested!
Conflict comes in a multitude of forms and is internal and external. Just remember, any goal reached, or victory won without a fair dose of conflict along the way has no value.
Goal
Characters within the scene are constantly chasing their goals.
There is nothing interesting about a scene featuring characters that are passively floating around, waiting to see what will happen to them. Characters must have goals to keep the story moving!
Character Development
Consider conflict and cause and effect. How is the reader becoming closer to the characters as the events play out? Why do the characters behave the way that they do? Underlying motives, emotions and values are what influence characters’ behaviours. Readers want to know this and understand their fictional friends!
Time Period
As a rule of thumb, a scene should be set in one time span. If the time switches to ‘later that day’, or ‘last week’, it calls for the start of a new scene. Also consider where the time period fits in relation to the other scenes. Is it in chronological order? Is it a memory or flashback? Or, does the novel involve a pattern of switching between different time periods?
Location
Locations should be carefully considered so they portray the emotion and theme of the scene. The cliché ‘dark and stormy night’ is an overemphasized example of this.
If a scene involves a stressful conversation, make the setting loud and busy to intensify the stress level. If characters are having an unwanted discussion, put them in the back of a taxi so they are confined to a small space, unable to leave the scene. Always think about the emotion before selecting an appropriate setting.
Sensory Detail
Sensory detail can make or break your scene. Too much information about irrelevant details and you’ll lose the interest of your reader. Too little information, and the reader can’t properly immerse themselves in the story.
Readers want to experience sensory detail: squinting to see as they walk out of sight of the sun; coughing as he inhales cigarette smoke; the nauseating feeling of claustrophobia; the rotten smell of the rubbish truck. These descriptions give the reader a more fulfilling experience.
Other Considerations
There are a few other things to consider, such as a summary sentence, viewpoint, and which characters will be in the scene and why. We’ll include these in the worksheet.
Download the worksheet to outline your scenes. You can duplicate these as many times as you’d like and complete the outlines on screen, or you can print them out if you prefer.
Better still, try using the scene outlines in Novel Suite Software. You can store as many as you’d like, and reference them directly as you write. Start a free trial today.