We all have aspects of writing we are good at and other areas we need to work on. The Scene Brief is a writing process borrowed from script writing that enables me to focus on different aspects of my writing at different times by layering techniques one on top of the other.
1. Write the first draft of your scene just as it comes to you. Put the scene aside for a bit before going on to the second step.
2. Next work through the technical aspects of the scene as we discussed in workshop 5, filling out any of the steps you missed and rearranging any elements of the scene to make it flow correctly.
3. Pack your scene with as much colour and description, as you can using all five senses, and the character’s thoughts and feelings. Add in as many similies and metaphors as you can. You won’t use all this material in your final draft, but you will be surprised how much you do use. Editing stuff in is much harder than editing stuff out.
4. I like to write visually, so I add in an additional layer where I include camera instructions - zoom in for this detail, swing round to catch that action, pan out for the whole picture. For a zoom I slow the action down and add in the detail from the scene brief, for a pan shot I edit out most of the detail and write with a broad brush.
5. Finally, bring it all together, cutting out any excess action, description, similes, metaphors etc.
