Writing.Com General Discussion

Ooh, ok, here's the list with a short explanation of the two that might seem confusing:

1. Location
2. Ambience (atmosphere)
3. Cadence (pace)
4. Tension
5. Which characters are present
6. Which threads are represented
7. Goal
8. Conflict
9. How this scene is going to play out (in rough terms)
10. What information is the scene going to impart to the reader
11. How many words it is going to be
12. Is this a stepping-stone scene or a key scene
13. What happens (specifically, not generally)
14. Why it matters
15. Cause
16. Effect

9 and 13 might seem to be the same thing, but they're not. 9 is a rough overview, while 13 is about detail.
Why separate these into two items? 13 will be one or more key moments within the scene. As you begin to write, we all know the scene will come to life in your imagination, and therefore is subject to new information and ideas you didn't have when you wrote the list. This allows characters, for example, the freedom to do something unexpected.

Your goal is to use 13 as your starting guide, but whatever actually happens, 9 must remain largely unchanged in order to keep the story on track. That's not to say you can't deviate from 9, but if you do then you'll know that you'll have to re-examine your outline.

The last three are important. You must know why the scene matters, else it needn't be in the story at all. Cause is what what happened earlier that made this scene an inevitability. Effect is what causes the next scene (or at least the next scene in this thread) to happen.

Note also that I've separated Ambience and Tension out. Whilst they are usually the same, it might be that you want the atmosphere in the scene (as the characters experience it) to be different to the tension you want to impart to the reader. Psychological and horror stories do this often. Think of the couple that sneak into the woods for a little trist - they're relaxed and happy. We, the reader/viewer, know they are about to come to a sticky end, so for us the tension is quite different.

6 is interesting. In a complex story, several threads might collide in a single scene. If, like me, you do some of your planning in Aeon Timeline, then you can use a visual aid to show which threads are represented in the scene. I still copy that information to the index card though.

Goal and Conflict are not always present. Stepping stone scenes might not have either, or only one. Conflict doesn't necessarily mean exactly that - you could be stuck in a traffic jam when you need to get somewhere fast.

As for the word count, I don't worry about that when writing. I always over-write a scene. However, when I get to the editing, I try and boil the scene back to the stipulated word count. This keeps the structure intact and ensures things will happen at the right time.