Writer's Workshop: Anatomy of a Story · 4:09am Aug 11th, 2015
Hey, all! It's been a while, huh? I know I have a different Workshop written up elsewhere, but it's been in development for so long that I must have just forgotten about it. Anyway, I was having a chat with one of my clients when we got into the discussion of how many scenes should be in a chapter. It turns out that the term "scene" isn't as self-evident as I thought it was. What if people were confused by my usage of the term "act" in my previous Workshops? Seems to me like I should go in-depth on the composition of a story. So let's talk about the different parts of a story!
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The longest part of a story is an act. An act represents a long segment of the story during which the story flows in the same direction throughout. Over the course of the story, your characters will come up to roadblocks, complications, and other various difficulties; when something becomes too tough to handle in their old way of thinking, or once that way of thinking has finished being useful, they'll abandon that method and try something new. This is a big deal, because it means your characters are learning and growing throughout. When we separate a story into acts, we're saying that there's been a major change at the act turn which forces this change of method. I gave a bunch of examples in Workshop 10, so I'll let you look at those if you have any more questions.
As I said, the best time to have an act turn is when the old way of thinking won't get you any further. For example, think about old cars that have gear shift boxes. You start in first gear, then switch to second gear once you're going as fast as first gear will allow. You switch to third gear once second gear hits its maximum, then to fourth gear when third gear is done. Once you hit the maximum speed, you've reached the goal.
Here's an example from one of my stories. In The Queen Beckons, the four acts would approximately be from the beginning to when Twilight meets Selene for the first time; from then to when Twilight breaks Celestia's gemstone; from then to when Cadance arrives; and from then to when Black Nova is defeated. With each of these act changes, the direction the story takes changes drastically.
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Breaking up acts will let us see what are called sequences. A sequence is sort of the middle child of the three terms: sequences are groupings of scenes, and acts are groupings of sequences. What we want to look for are groups of scenes that have a similar sort of feel to them. Think of a sequence kind of like a montage: each individual scene in the sequence lends itself to the same interpretation. These are trickier to find in short media like TV shows, so let's look at a longer novel, like The Lord of the Rings. We could describe, for example, the scenes in the Mines of Moria as a single sequence, part of the larger act between the Fellowship joining together and their separation at the end of the first book. This sequence has the overall feeling of danger, failure, and death: the fight with the octopus outside, the death of Gimli's relative, the fight against the orcs and the cave troll, and the sacrifice of Gandalf all play into this same thematic byline. Thus, those scenes all work together for the same sequence.
How do you decide what constitutes a sequence? Well, as you're writing, pick a theme for that section and focus on that for a while. Just like an act turn, once that theme loses its luster, switch to something else! My recommendation, of course, is to have about four of these per act, but if your story is particularly long or particularly short, you may have to change that. Just know that sequences are related groups of scenes, and it should come together pretty nicely.
A good example of a sequence in The Queen Beckons might be when Cadance organizes the other four to help her. These scenes take place in different locations and tones, but they all share that same theme of working together to help Twilight.
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Last, we have scenes. Scenes are like the atom of story structure. You're probably familiar with the term, but let me formalize it a bit just so we're all on the same page. A scene is a short moment in a story that is self-contained. If you have two characters sit around a campfire, that's a scene. If you have a high-speed chase across a city, that's a scene. There's a very clear beginning and a very clear ending. It doesn't necessarily mean a change in location or a change in characters, but it does mean a change in topic or at the very least a change in the way the topic is discussed.
So how do we write a scene? If scenes are the atom, then there are four subatomic particles: Location, Action, Mindset, and Persuasion. Oh, hey, that spells LAMP! :D Some of these might surprise you. A scene is more than just the external factors; it's also deeply focused on the internal concerns of the characters. (Remember Scene-Sequel? Basically, I've folded them together.) As you write your scene, keep all four in mind. Then, when you're ready to switch scenes, simply change one of those values, et voila! You're in a new scene!
In the first part of The Queen Beckons, there are two scenes, both at the same place. First, you have the guardsponies discussing the Ghost's potential existence. The next scene has the Ghost engage them, planting in Shining Armor's mind the idea that Twilight must meet the Ghost. In the first scene, the Location is "a quiet night on the ramparts," the Action is "changing the guard," the Mindset is "fear," and the Persuasion is "convince Brass Plate not to be afraid." The second is similar: the Location is "the storm-wracked battlements," the Action is "facing the Ghost," the Mindset is "scared realization," and the Persuasion is "convincing Shining to tell Celestia." Make sense? ...Probably not, huh? Well, if you have any questions, please ask!
I didn't know about sequences or "lamps." Very useful info here!
I have a lamp on my desk where I write, so whenever I'm going over a scene I can look at my lamp to remind myself and say, "Ow, that hurts! Dammit, Lost! Stop staring into your lamp while it's on!"