Hatrack River Writers Workshop: The Perfect Scene

This is topic The Perfect Scene in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :

I know that writing badly is just one of many types of writer's block, but how do you get past it? I mean, I'vebeen trying to write a certain scene for a few days, and no matter how I try to word it, or from who's PoV it is, I can't get it right. So I decide to skip it, write a few-word summary, and move on to the next scene. But I can't get THIS one right either! It all seems so wrong! So wrong and so fake!

How do I get fix it!?

Chris

[This message has been edited by cvgurau (edited April 06, 2003).]

Posted by srhowen (Member # 462) on :

You have someone else read the scene. A lot of times you hit a spot where you suddenly hate everythign you write--it's not a bad spot. But it can stop you if you let it.

Shawn

Posted by GZ (Member # 1374) on :

If it seems fake, maybe characters are going things for plot purposes that don’t make sense for the character?

Or this scene is so important you’re paranoid about messing it up, so nothing seems good enough?

Although I have to second Shawn’s advise whole-heartedly. I don’t know how many times I have beat my head against a section, finally ended up with something I still felt a bit queasy about, yet someone said it worked just fine.

Gina

Posted by Tangent (Member # 1191) on :

Actually, I've suffered from this in the past. The easiest way to get around it is to put a place marker in that scene and write what comes after it. It may even just be a few paragraphs that are giving you a hard time. But when you get around this hurdle then you'll find that the block goes away. Afterall, you have surpassed the problem. You are still writing. And these blocks are your subconscious trying to keep you from writing because of fears it's not going to be good enough.

Robert A. Howard

Posted by JK (Member # 654) on :

Ooh ooh ooh. Can't agree with our friend Tangent on that one. JK believes in writing the story in chronological order most fervently.

Given that, if I can't make a scene work, I stop. Put this story aside and write something else. Whatever comes into my head. It doesn't have to be good. Hell, it doesn't have to be decent. Anything to keep words flowing, really. I find that helps a lot, and if it doesn't, I just come back to it another day.

Posted by writerPTL (Member # 895) on :

Writing out of order has always seemed extremely unnatural to me. If every scene is a floor on a big literary skyscraper . . . it would be like skipping a floor and going up to build the next, only there are no supports to hold it up.

Posted by srhowen (Member # 462) on :

LOL--in rewrites I have been known to move whole chapters around. Write in order? For the most part, but that doesn't mean the story stays in that order.

Shawn

Posted by Doc Brown (Member # 1118) on :

Based on your description, cvgurau, I bet I know your problem: This is an information discovery scene where none of the characters is feeling a strong emotion.

I guess this because you are having trouble picking a POV character. POV should go to the character who will feel the strongest emotions in the scene (endangered, shocked, terrified, surprised, whatever).

If this is just an information scene and no character has a reason to experience any strong emotions, then you should add a reason. Consider that Indiana Jones and James Bond both have lots of informational scenes where they discover important clues, and these are always tense. There's a reason each clue involves a fight, threat, seduction, trap, doublecross, etc. for Indiana and 007. Sometimes an entire subplot develops just from adding tension to an information discovery scene.

Also consider information scenes from Ghostbusters, The Mummy, and Mission: Impossible. They are all packed with excellent examples.

But please, don't drop an alligator through the transom.

Good luck.

[This message has been edited by Doc Brown (edited April 06, 2003).]

Posted by Kokomo (Member # 1210) on :

I have the opposite problem. I tend to write cool scenery snippets without an overarching plot to tie things together. My writing is loose and flimsy, but my descriptions are evocative.

Here's how I do what I do well: I kindof trance out and experience the scene as if I were inside it. I try to imagine as if I were there. What is the temperature? What's the humidity? What does it feel like to be there? Lighting? Scents? Physical feelings? Am I hungry or tired or full of energy? What state of mind am I in? What is my body doing? All of this, I tend to do naturally, but you might want to ask yourself specific questions if you have trouble actually picturing the scene. I'm a rather kinesthetic person, so I go for how does this character feel in his or her skin before I go anywhere else.

Posted by Simon Kelly (Member # 1625) on :

Not to disagree with anyone here, but there are several good stories that actually require a non-chronological order to give it suspense and/or originality.

A couple of good examples (these are film scripts but the principle is the same) are Pulp-Fiction and Memento. In the first the scenes cut through time, so that some of the main characters actions seem strange until the first part of their tail is told in a later scene. With memento, each scene is the one before the next?? So we see the character peeled apart from what he has become, to what he was to start with.

So the stages of your story need not be written in any particular order. However, if you are struggling to write one section, here is a little tip.

Write synopsis of each chapter or sections of your story, before you begin the tail in ernest. Put in these a list of characters involved, what they are each doing there, what the plot will do and maybe a few bullet points of actions that will happen. You can write the whole story like this, then put them on cards, and keep them to one side as you write. The plot and general story may alter as your write the bulk of it, and you will then need to go through the remaining cards and alter a few of the points, but it will keep you on track and allow you to develop the story more clearly.

This of course will not help with the general writing, and writers block will still occur, but it may help you with skipping a chapter or two during the initial write.

Kind Regards

Simon

Posted by JK (Member # 654) on :

Just a quick note to point out that I didn't mean I believed in writing the story chronologically, but in the correct order (i.e. not skipping chapters/floors).

Good analogy, PTL. Advance notice that I'm going to steal it and pass it off as my own *grin*

Posted by Cosmi (Member # 1252) on :

been there, cvgurau. here's what i do: read. if you write crap, read. read works that set a similar tone to that of your story and don't even think about your piece for at least a few days. then go back and write something else, not related to that scene, and see if it isn't crap. if it is, read more and try again. it generally works for me.

TTFN & lol

Cosmi