SCENE & SEQUEL: The Ebb and Flow of Fiction

Scene and sequel are two of the most important components of plot, but they also seem to be two of the least understood. If plot were an engine, scene and sequel would be the pistons powering the drive shaft. Writers striving to turbocharge their writing might want to fine-tune their use of scene and sequel.

Let's put plot structure in context. On a micro level, plot consists of action and reaction. On a macro level, plot has a beginning, a middle, and an ending. But plot also has a mid-level structure: scene and sequel.

Scene is a unit of drama - where the action occurs. Then, after a transition of some sort, comes the sequel - an emotional reaction and regrouping, an aftermath.

The structures of scene and sequel are quite different, and they serve entirely different purposes. Many how-to books depict the rising action of a story as a jagged line, or stairway. What they fail to explain is that the up-thrust lines represent scenes, while the downward-sloping lines represent sequels. A scene drives the story forward like a wave racing up a beach. A sequel pulls the wave back and gathers strength for the next scene to surge up the beach even farther than the previous scene. A novel without scenes would be boring, but without sequels, a story is just one event after another.

Let's take a closer look at scenes. Many fiction-writing books mention at least a few of the following as being important to plot: tension, suspense, resolution, motivation, goals, stakes, obstacles, conflict, success, and failure. But most don't mention all of these elements, nor do they explain how they work together as part of a scene.

Basically, this is how a fully developed scene works:

* The scene setup establishes the point of view, which is usually that of the scene's main character.

* The setup also establishes setting, including time, especially in relation to the last scene or sequel.

* The character has motivation to achieve a specific goal and moves to achieve it.

* Failure to achieve the goal would result in the loss of something meaningful, i.e., stakes.

* An obstacle complicates the character's achievement of the goal.

* This creates conflict, which results in frustration for the character and tension for the reader.

* Since the character is properly motivated and the stakes are adequate for the situation, he tries to overcome the obstacle again and fails again and again, often in the give-and-take form of stimulus

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