Every writer wants to be original, creative, and unique. So why follow silly rules and adhere to a ridged structure? Why write an outline? You just want to sit down and write. Won't rules just smother creativity? Well no actually quite the opposite. Structure fuels creativity. You can't play a game without rules and you can't have life without gravity to ground it to the planet.
The structure of a story is in five parts. There are five acts, the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. We start by introducing the characters, setting, theme, and the main goal of the hero. Then a problem arises and the hero pursues his goal. And in the conclusion in which the hero either fails or succeeds, and moves on with his changed life. In simple terms we first get the hero up a tree, then we throw rocks at him, and finally we get him down. These acts or parts consist of individual scenes.
What is a scene? A scene is a span of pages in which a piece of dramatic action is played out between characters in a set location. How long should a scene last? For as long as it takes to move the story forward to the next scene. You should treat each scene like a mini movie/ or novel. Each scene should have its own spine. The written scene should include the location and simply what the characters do and say. Unless information is vital to the scene don’t include it. Less is more as the old saying goes. If the story is a war then it could be said that the scene is a battle.
Just because you know the end doesn’t mean you know where you are going. This applies to any writing. Art is a series of decisions; a step outline helps you organize these decisions in order. A step outline is a list of scenes in order, with a simple headline to describe it. Always with an action verb in there somewhere, because scenes are about character actions.
Scene Outline
Scene one: Joe persuades Marl to go with him to the park.
Scene two: Joe convinces Marl to help him out with his problem.
Scene three: Doug pressures Marl to find out what’s bugging her.
The structure of a story is in five parts. There are five acts, the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. We start by introducing the characters, setting, theme, and the main goal of the hero. Then a problem arises and the hero pursues his goal. And in the conclusion in which the hero either fails or succeeds, and moves on with his changed life. In simple terms we first get the hero up a tree, then we throw rocks at him, and finally we get him down. These acts or parts consist of individual scenes.
What is a scene? A scene is a span of pages in which a piece of dramatic action is played out between characters in a set location. How long should a scene last? For as long as it takes to move the story forward to the next scene. You should treat each scene like a mini movie/ or novel. Each scene should have its own spine. The written scene should include the location and simply what the characters do and say. Unless information is vital to the scene don’t include it. Less is more as the old saying goes. If the story is a war then it could be said that the scene is a battle.
Just because you know the end doesn’t mean you know where you are going. This applies to any writing. Art is a series of decisions; a step outline helps you organize these decisions in order. A step outline is a list of scenes in order, with a simple headline to describe it. Always with an action verb in there somewhere, because scenes are about character actions.
Scene Outline
Scene one: Joe persuades Marl to go with him to the park.
Scene two: Joe convinces Marl to help him out with his problem.
Scene three: Doug pressures Marl to find out what’s bugging her.
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