Scenes

Having already discussed sequels, I want to talk a little about their counterparts, scenes. The simple definition of a scene is the part of the story where the “action” of the story takes place. That said, this doesn’t really tell us much. In particular, we need to know what kind of action actually makes a scene a scene. Sequels can contain action, just like scenes can, but they have other defining qualities that set them apart. The question is whether there is a similar way to distinguish scenes from the rest of a story. If anything, I would argue that scenes, considered broadly, contain a particular kind of action, where characters pursue the goals they established in the previous sequel.

Scenes themselves are not really subject to many problems, but they are often greatly affected by other aspects of a story, such as pacing and motivation. The only severe problem has to do with the essence of a scene, the goals of characters. One of two things can go wrong with a goal. First, the writer can fail to actually give their characters goals to pursue. This sounds really basic, I know, but every writer falls victim to this occasionally, including myself. I also think that this is often the cause of writer’s block. When a writer feels blocked by a story, it is usually because they don’t know what their characters should do next. The only way to solve this problem is to get to know your characters better so you understand what is at stake for them in the story.