While writing a story, scenes are one major part on which you have to do a lot of thinking.
If you create an outline for the story before you write it out, you have a clear idea on how the story begins, what happens in the middle and how it would end.
And because you have thought out the Beginning, the Middle and the End, all that remains is to think out the scenes that will connect these three main features of your story.
Trust me, it is not as easy as I have just written.
A scene is something which connects parts of your story and is really important to move your story forward. Keep in mind that each scene you write should serve a purpose as well or else it will only make readers bored and click out of your book to find a new one.
For instance, you are writing a fight scene. Like, it's the First Wizarding War and everything is full of panic, anxiety and frustration. Voldemort is on the peak of his anger and wants to finish anyone who stands in his way. Literally, all the scene spells KILL, KILL, KILL. But all of a sudden, the author shows that James Potter has crept out to warn the love of his life to run and hide and go somewhere safe (not Lily, I'm talking about an OC) and hastily confesses his undying love for her and then they get to share a moment or two where the writer gets carried away with the emotional aspects of the scene and it seems like the whole universe stopped and the clocks became out of order just to let the two helpless lovebirds confess their love to each other and strengthen their vows etc etc.
Honestly speaking, please refrain from doing that.
Even though the scene itself may be very emotional and likely to get readers all sentimental searching for tissue boxes to wipe tears and all, but including such a scene while a fight is going on is highly unrealistic.
Adding such scenes in the story disrupts the theme of the previous and the upcoming scene and as I mentioned earlier, all the scenes have to connect with each other and also serve a purpose.
Anyhow... Getting on with the real stuff for which I planned to write this chapter...
There are about 13 main types of scenes. Or rather, 13 scenes you normally see in a good story.
1. Establishing Scene:
Also known as the opening scene, this is the first thing your reader comes to contact with in the story. The establishing scene is usually the starting scene of the story in which a good writer reveals the tone, time and theme of the story.
In easier words, this is the scene which establishes in your reader's mind what is to be expected from the story.
Remember, that you have to write a hooking opening scene so as to captivate your reader into the story completely. If you succeed in getting your reader's attention from the start, then it is one big achievement.
I am mentioning below the opening scene from Sweet Vengeance from which I might have used a few of my earlier examples too, a mystery/thriller novel by Angelily2015
It revolves around the life of Lysander Smith, a skilled target killer and focuses on his life. Questions like how he became a target killer, why, what would happen to him, will he have to face consequences, how will his story end etc are focused on throughout the story.
Even though it is not a Harry Potter story, still it's opening scene has all the elements of a captivating establishing scene.
[And don't worry, I have the author's permission to use her book as an example. If you like, you can check her out but don't think of it as a compulsory advertisement].
The silence of the night was nothing when compared to the echoing screams of death and revenge. It was horrifyingly dark in the room and only a dim light was visible but even that weak flame contributed to the unspeakable terror of the place.
A silhouette of a boy was visible standing over a limp corpse like figure. The stench of blood was filling his nostrils and the faint painful cries were reaching his ears. Bending down he pulled the knife out from the wounded man's chest where it had been stabbed again and again.
"You... Why...?" He seemed to be breathing his last and the pain he felt was excruciating.
"That was for killing my father," the boy whispered in a low voice. Incoherent words came out of his mouth in reply followed by a stream of blood. "Oh so you don't recognize me," the blue eyes flashed in the dim light and the flame reflected in them gave the impression of a fire blazing inside those crystal clear irises, "look at me closely, I want you to see who caused your death. I want you to know who I am."
The man coughed and sputtered as the boy jabbed the knife close to his throat. "Well, I'll give you a hint; does the name Smith ring any bells to you?"
The man's eyes widened in horror and disbelief, "n-no..."
He chuckled softly, "unfortunately, yes. The day you killed Alexander Smith 10 years ago was the day your fate got marked. And now... You get to die at the hands of his son."
The above scene is the opening scene for the novel. I have said it is a good establishing scene because it gives a very clear idea on the theme of the story.
The description of the night and the silence in the beginning, is enough to get a reader thinking that it must be of a darker theme. The author has revealed enough without spoiling the whole story. By this scene a reader can easily conclude that the theme of the story is Revenge and the fact that the story itself starts with a murder leaves the reader wondering on what is going to come up next. Such as what will be the consequences, how is the character going to proceed from then on and so forth.
The details are sufficient and this certainly isn't an example of a purple prose (i.e a prose which is descriptive to the point of infinity). The dialogues are vague but give a clear sense of the speaker's personality.
All in all this is one great Establishing Scene.
And now, here are the main elements of a good establishing scene:
Sufficient description, hooking dialogues, visible theme and appropriate setting with respect to the genre of the story.
In the opening scene, the author usually introduces the reader to the main character of the story and it can be either antagonist, protagonist or both.
Also, as inferiorgalaxies asked me to do a chapter about how to start the book, I may do it separately later on in the book but the Establishing scene is also quite like the opening/first chapter of your book.
2. Exposition Scene:
This is the scene in which the readers are given necessary information related to the characters. The exposition scene reveals the character's past or something that happened in the past which made the character who he/she is today.
The exposition should never come too early in the story. No one would like to read a story in which the author gives all the information too early. Such stories become hard to digest and seem a bit too suffocating since all the detail gives the impression of everything being chucked together. And this aspect of the story makes a reader leave the story for good.
Usually the exposition (or rather, the revelation) is about the character your story focuses on. But expositions also deal with exposing something related to what might have happened before the story started, kind if like a background replay.
For example, in Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone the exposition is probably the scene when Hagrid comes and delivers his iconic dialogue, "yer a wizard, Harry."
Consider another example, in the Prisoner Of Azkaban the exposition scene was the one in which Harry Potter learnt that Sirius Black was his godfather, James's best friend and his parent's Secret Keeper. Also another exposition scene in the same book is the revelation of Peter Pettigrew.
The exposition scene is kind of a shocking scene, which literally catches your reader off-guard if it is well written. The revelation, in spite of being shocking, should also make sense and fit the description of the character's personality and behavior appropriately.
3. Catalyst Scene:
Now this is the scene which sets the story into motion. A strong catalyst shows actions and events instead of verbal discussion.
In Harry Potter books, the catalyst scenes are those in which they come to Hogwarts. Readers get a clear sense that as they are in their school now the story has definitely been set into motion.
4. Love Scene:
Obviously, the love scenes are the scenes which portray and show relationships. Every main character has a love interest and these are the scenes in which readers get to know more about their relationship. Love scenes have a wide range and nowadays writers tend to focus more on such scenes instead of the whole story. Friendly tip, focus more on the plot than on the love scenes.
Usually these scenes are emotional but with the wide variety of writers out there, the possibilities expand. It can either be a romantic conversation, a date, picnic, basically these scenes show the readers why the couple is together, what they have in common, what they do not have in common, their likes and dislikes and more specifically their feelings for each other.
In Half Blood Prince, such a scene is when Harry and Ginny share their first kiss after Gryffindor won the Quidditch match.
5. Confrontation Scene:
To be simple here, the confrontation scene is basically a confrontation. One of the main character confronts the other about something which is supposedly wrong or not right in said character's view.
This confrontation does not come at the end of the story because it is definitely not the final scene of your book. In fact, this confrontation happens to be the foil for the upcoming events and is usually the scene which starts off a reel of important events in your story.
For instance, in The Goblet Of Fire the confrontation scene is when Harry's name comes out of the Goblet and Ron thinks he went under the Invisibility Cloak to put his name in. Harry is confronted by Dumbledore soon as his name comes out and by Ron as well later on in the book.
6. Pay-off Scene:
The pay off scene is what people commonly refer to as the ending or the closing scene of the story. It is the scene in which loose ends are tied up and the author delivers (or rather pays off) the ending of the story.
For example, in the epic ending of Harry Potter the pay off is the nineteen years later epilogue as shown in the movies.
And that's where Harry Potter ended as written by J.K Rowling. I will never ever consider Cursed Child as the recent canon book and nothing anyone says is going to make me change my mind.
7. Resolution Scene:
It is the end of the conflict which was created in the Confrontation scene. It is also referred to as the reconciliation scene. It occurs after the climax of the story.
While writing a resolution scene, make sure that the reason you give for ending the conflict is believable. You can not have two people fight and argue and kick each other out of their lives and then make it all up to each other in less than an hour because they were too dependent on each other that they could not move a single step without the other.
Just don't do that.
For example, I told you about the confrontation scene Goblet Of Fire. Now the Resolution scene will be the one in which both Harry and Ron unite and the rift that was created between them resolves.
8. Realization Scene:
It is the scene in which a puzzle gets solved either by the character or the reader. It is a sort of a truth moment when an essential missing piece of the story gets set and the reader understands why it happened and how.
Foreshadowing is required in such scenes so you will have to rewrite it a few times. It can also serve as a plot twist for your story if written as such.
For instance, in The Chamber Of Secrets the realization scene is when Harry and Ron discover the information on Basilisks from the piece of paper clutched in Hermione's hand when she was petrified. That one piece of information served as a missing piece to the puzzle on which they had been working for long as to what kind of monster was hosted by the Chamber.
9. Decision Scene:
The Decision scenes comes after the Realization and it is the decision which the character takes in order to act upon what he or she has realized/discovered.
As mentioned earlier, the decision scene came when Ginny was taken into the Chamber by the basilisk and Harry and Ron decide to go to the chamber in order to rescue Gin.
10. Action Scene:
This scene is the one in which the character acts upon the decision. The Action scene doesn't necessarily have to be a fight or a war or whatever, it is basically characters moving the story forward through their doings.
11. Reaction Scene:
Every action is followed by a reaction. This scene focuses on the character's reaction which arises as a result of the action scene. The reaction can be either emotional or physical.
Usually the realization, decision, action and reaction follow each other in order and are placed together in stories.
12. Flashback Scene:
It is generally advised to avoid writing flashback scenes. But of course it all depends on you.
The flashback scene is what most writers use as the Exposition scene but in reality both of them are quite different.
A good flashback scene reveals what is necessary to the plot and the readers but does not reveal everything.
For example, in Harry Potter the flashback scenes exist in the form of memories viewed in the pensieve.
13. Show Stopper Scene:
In films and movies, these scenes are the musical scenes or something massive like a ball, a prom, an event or gathering. The Show stopper scene is not necessary for the story but nowadays readers and writers both look forward to it. These scenes are the memorable ones in the story.
We get an example for such a scene twice in Harry Potter books and movies. The first is obviously the Yule Ball and the second is Bill and Fleur's wedding ceremony.
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So these are the main types of scenes which a good story should have. I hope this chapter helped you get an idea on what scenes to include and how to connect them.
See you soon with the next chapter.