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| Editing Tips on How to Stage Your Scene
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September 25, 2020
Oakland, CA
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| | Q: When introducing a scene, how do you organically place three or more people in a scene?
When you’re editing a first draft, you need to essentially re-imagine your story to give it depth, verisimilitude, and emotional power.
Your end goal: bring the reader into the story and have them feel involved and attached to your characters and their dilemmas.
How to Stage Your Scene
At the start of every scene, the reader needs to know some basic things to orient them.
They need to know:
- Where the scene takes place
- When the scene is happening relative to the action of the story
- Who is in the scene
- Goal for point of view (POV) character
- And why we should care – the stakes. These are the stakes for the POV character, usually a main character and ties back to goal.
A student recently asked me:
Q: When introducing a scene, what if there are three or more people in a scene, there must be a clever way to organically place them in a scene. Especially if they are all there at the start of the scene, right?
A: Yes!
An Example and Walkthrough on How to Stage Your Scene
To show you how, I’ll share an example.
1. Start by getting a big picture view of the scene opening.
Here’s mine:
Sally, Martin, and Joelle are at a café together.
2. State the scene’s point of view character.
The scene is from Joelle's point of view.
3. Be clear about where in the story your scene takes place.
Let’s say we’re somewhere in the middle of the story.
4. List the elements for your story; be specific:
- Where the scene takes place
- When the scene is happening relative to the action of the story
- Who is in the scene
- Goal for point of view (POV) character
- And why we should care – the stakes.
Here’s mine:
Where: a café in Paris (why not!); near Canal St. Martin, Café Prune When: 10 pm, a balmy summer night; the sun is just setting; it’s the next day after the previous scene Who: Sally, Martin, and Joelle; also, a waiter, passers-by; cars, pedestrians, street musicians Goal: Joelle wants to make a movie and convince sally and martin, a couple, to fund her Stakes: if she doesn’t get this movie made, then she’s back to square one, an unknown filmmaker, and has to get money from someone else
Reminder
Our goal here is to introduce the scene, not write the entire scene. We just want to hook the reader and draw them in. So they’ll read on.
I like to do this in 2-4 sentences. Here’s my draft without any story built around it.
My finished example:
The next night, just as the sun set on a warm summer day, Joelle exited the metro, hoofed it the few blocks to Café Prune, and arrived just as Sally and Martin did. They greeted each other with les bises, got their drinks, and settled in at a table on the terrace facing Canal St. Martin. It was quieter there. She needed them to be able to talk about her pitch…
The next time you sit down wondering how to edit the start of your scene, use these steps to guide you.
Let me know how it goes! Email me or comment on this post.
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Have a happy and creative week!
All my best,
Beth
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♥
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| ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany is creativity coach for writers, a teacher, workshop facilitator, and speaker, who helps fiction writers experience clarity, so that they can write and polish their novels, and proudly publish them to the delight of their readers.
Owner of the Barany School of Fiction, an online training hub, Beth takes great interest in how humans learn, create, and grow, and includes all her students’ life experiences, including the ancestors, into the moment.
Want a course to help you prepare to write your novel? Discover the comprehensive Plan Your Novel course here, co-taught with award-winning, bestselling thriller author, Ezra Barany.
She's also an award-winning novelist and writes magical tales of romance, adventure, and mystery to empower women and girls to be the heroes in their own lives.
Uncover her Henrietta series here (YA Fantasy) and her Touchstone series here (Fantasy/Paranormal Romance). And her new Sci-fi Mystery here.
beth@bethbarany.com
Barany School of Fiction
Writer's Fun Zone blog
Photo Credit: by c. 2018 Ezra Barany
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