Quick Scene Outline

While it's not unusual for me to work with only a vague plot structure of a whole book before I start a first draft, I often work out an individual scene's structure right before I'm ready to write it. This is especially useful when you feel a little stuck, or if you're not sure what should happen next. 

When answering the questions below, let yourself come up with as many answers and ideas as you can. Even if they take you off in unexpected directions... this is good! After brainstorming the answers to these questions you should feel excited about writing the scene. If you still don't feel ready or inspired, keep digging for more interesting answers -- surprise and intrigue yourself and you have a far better chance of doing the same with your reader. Also don't worry if when you then feel ready and excited to write, your characters don't stick to the plan. My character's rarely do. This is what keeps the process exciting!


What is your POV (point-of-view) character's goal in this scene?

How does this link to their overall goal?

What barriers do they come across?

Here you want to brainstorm ideas for internal conflict, conflict with other characters and conflict from the environment.

Do they achieve their goal? 

If everything goes according to plan and there are no surprises, if what the POV character anticipates and what actually happens amount to the same thin, your reader will quickly lose interest. In Story by Robert Mckee he calls this THE GAP, and defines it as the distance between what the protagonist thinks is going to happen and what actually happens. The wider THE GAP the more interesting the story.

So what happens in the scene that changes the way your POV character will behave from now on?


How does what happens in the scene alter the course of the plot? 


Side note: Do not ignore the last two questions. While a character going after a goal is extremely important it personally took me a long time to totally realise how important it is that something in the scene happens that changes the way your main character thinks about something, and therefore how they will act. Are actions are guided by our thoughts. If we change the way we think, we change the way we act. If we change the way we act and we're the main character in a story, we alter the plot of the story. 


Happy writing! If you end up trying this, let me know how it goes :)

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