Creating Scenes & Sequel Outlines

The scene and sequel is the smallest unit of a novel that contains all the elements necessary for a story. They contain emotion, action, dialogue, characters, conflict and setting. The scene is a physical story action (all about doing) while the sequel is a mental story action (all about thinking)

The scene is a reaction to a sequel while the sequel is a reaction to the scene. Dividing your novel into scenes will help you out when it comes to revising your novel because editing, cutting up and rearranging your novel will be that much easier. The scenes and sequels are meant to advance the plot and develop the characters.

Only the most critical characters appear in the scene and in each the setting is well developed so that at that particular moment the reader is in that place with the POV character. The POV character is the person who is going to be doing the acting or taking part in it. Do not clog a scene with a lot of backstory or flashbacks because it will slow down the pace of the story. Save it for the sequel.

The scene requires full Technicolor details and moment to moment progression so that the reader feels like what is happening is happening in real time or ‘live’. It should never be about telling, no gossip sessions here please. Scenes in the plot have four basic parts.

a)      What does the POV character want at the beginning of the scene.

b)      Create an obstacle/conflict that prevents them from reaching their goal

c)      Does the POV character reach their goal or not

d)      Get the goal or not get the goal – either way there’s a catch. Disaster strikes causing an unexpected and larger problem for the character

The scene will immediately be followed by a sequel. The sequel allows the reader and the POV character to collect himself and to deal with the disaster from the scene. Its purpose is to change a disaster into a goal. It creates a transition from the frantic feelings of action to the calm aspects of having made a decision. Here you can drop in some back-story to explain the character traits we saw shown in the scenes.

Though critical, the sequels are shorter than the scenes in genres that require a faster pace such as a thriller. It may even appear just at the beginning of a scene. In romance novels the sequels are much longer than the scenes. This is because the pace of a sequel is much slower and has a high amount of introspection. There are three basic parts of a sequel.

a)      The POV reaction to the disaster. Is he angry, shocked, happy or sad? This allows the reader to tap into the emotions of the scene. The character takes the time to regroup. Its all about sheer emotion.

b)      The POV character begins to worry over how they can solve the disaster because they cannot remain in this status quo. The character begins to go over his/her options though technically he/she has no good choices as they all have side effects. This stage is characterized by thoughts.

c)      A decision is made of how to deal with the issue at hand and immediately another scene is launched.

Scene – sequel – scene – sequel… the pattern goes till at the climax the worst disaster is dealt with and there are no more disaster. The story ends. Writing in scenes and sequels makes sure that you write action/reaction scenes that move at a better pace and are rational to the reader.

Not every scene needs a sequel though. If the character does not need to make a decision you don’t need a sequel. It is possible to put two scenes back to back especially in thrillers where introspection must be limited. Take for example in Scene 15, Ryder has just gotten rid of the faramtulas only to discover that they were guarding a Bergonof. The Bergonof roars. Scene 16 cannot start with Ryder thinking of ‘oh what a terrible terrible thing. This Berganof is really scary’. No! Dude needs to start running.   

Outlining Your Novel

The outline is the story plan. Outlining is the process of setting out the events that will lead to the protagonist meeting his/her goal. Some writers advice that you fly by the seat of your pants and pray to God that everything falls into place. Some genres like mystery cannot work with this kind of style because they require structuring to avoid forgetting. The more planning you do in the beginning, the less rewriting you’ll have to do.

Once you have your character charts, you will be able to figure out exactly what your character would do is presented with a challenge. Outlining your book before you begin writing allows you to escape the writers block because the moment you begin writing you already have the building blocks. With an outline you will be able to;

a)      Know what happens next and if it makes sense so that you’ll have no dead ends.

b)      It is a foundation for your first draft and makes it less intimidating to start writing. 

c)      Figure out any plot holes or character actions

You don’t need to develop a magnificent outline. Just a basic list will do. Over-outlining may suck all the joy of writing and curb spontaneity. Furthermore it becomes harder to cut scenes because you have put so much effort into them. Some people simply outline by using a word document with an active table of contents so that they click and they see what could happen in the scene. Otherwise choose to use flashcards that allow them to organize and reorganize the scenes while providing a physical connection.

View Point Character

This the person through whom the story will be told. Often but not all the time the view point character is the protagonist. The choice of your view point character will influence how the reader seas the story. A child and an adult will not see a death in the family the same way. A woman and a man will not see a case of infidelity in the same way. The VP character can be the difference between people siding with your theme or thinking of you as preachy.

The viewpoint character has to be someone who;

a)      Has the most to lose

b)      Is the most interesting and the reader can relate to them. People sympathize with people who have rounded characters and are going to grow with the story. Even the villain can be a VP character especially if you integrate some back-story that explains to the reader what their motives were.

c)      Is present during the action scenes other wise what’s the point.

d)      Is involved in the action or is doing the action. An observer won’t be as invested in a car chase as the person who is being chased. 

e)      Will be around the plot for a lot longer than that particular scene. By giving him/her a voice you are allowing us into the deeper recesses of the personality. There’s no need to get so up close and personal if you’re not going to let us enjoy him/her for sometime. The view point character must be someone who’s actions/crisis will be resolved by the end of the story.

Single VP Character

When a writer uses a single VP character it means that there is a consistent viewpoint throughout the story whether it is in first person or third person narrative. Short fiction works and Children’s stories will often feature just one viewpoint character to allow them connect with that character completely. It is thus suitable for works with less than twelve characters and a fairly liner plot.

Using a single VP could cause the reader to feel a little bit claustrophobic because they are stuck in the head of one person the whole time plus they are restricted from the motivations of the other characters.

Multiple VP Characters

In this case the VP character switches from scene to scene. The multiple VP is used in longer works where a Single VP will become monotonous. It is also used to introduce danger that the main protagonist isn’t aware of or to present a different viewpoint of the same situation.

Despite the freedom that multiple view points offer, resist the urge to have too many two to four characters is often enough to move the plot of the book. An unlimited number of VP characters decreases the intimacy between your character and the reader and thus the emotional impact of your story.

Make sure that the scenes that the protagonist has the floor are the most compelling and emotional ones. You don’t want the audience rooting for the bad guy because when you were there you did such a good job of explaining his motivations that the reader now feels like he really should be allowed to get away with stealing the crown jewels.

Try to maintain a consistent pattern of switches of POV. Do not switch viewpoints in the middle of a scene. Head hopping jars the reader out of their comfort zone and they have to readjust their emotions to suit the new guy. Instantly the connection you had tried so hard to create is broken. Instead switch at the beginning of a fresh chapter, a break within a chapter or a scene. When switching viewpoints make sure it is obvious from the first line who your view point character is at a particular point.