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SUPERPOWER YOUR SECOND DRAFT WITH A SCENE LIST

/ Edwina Shaw / 1 Comment

A Scene List will reveal the treasure hidden within your big baggy draft.

Unless you’re a meticulous planner and stick to your plan as you write, you’re going to find the Scene List an invaluable tool when it comes to nailing your second draft.

When I first began writing I was firmly in the “Pantser – Writing by the seat of your pants” club. This resulted in a couple of super long, rambling and unfocused drafts of about 130 000 words each, necessitating a severe pruning, back to around 40 000 in both cases. ARGH! But where to start?! When you’re staring at a pile of words and pages that big, like an overgrown mock-orange bush in your garden, you need a powerful pruning tool. 

Enter the wonderful writer and writing educator, Kim Wilkins, who introduced me to the scene list which has been a much-loved tool for over a decade now.

Once I started screenwriting, writing from the premise down to the scene list and filling in the gaps from there, I could see the benefit of doing some planning first, but I still love the freedom and pure creative joy of writing just to see where the story takes me. So these days I do a little vague planning at the start of a project but allow myself some leeway and fun tangents as well. I guess you’d call me a “Planster” now – half planner, half pantster.

Here’s what you need to know to get a SCENE LIST working for you, whether you’re writing a memoir, novel or screenplay.

It’s not rocket science so don’t get scared – if I can do it, you certainly can too.

You can do this with software like Scrivener or Final Draft but I’m a hard copy girl, my brain works better when I have something I can hold in my hand and shuffle around. I love my cut and paste both ways— with scissors and glue, and the ease of computer deletions and insertions. So find the way that works best for you and:

SCENE LIST BASICS

  1. WRITE A LONG LIST OF EVERY SCENE IN YOUR PROJECT – don’t scream. Yes it’s long and a little tedious, but the benefits will be obvious. I do mine on index cards – one scene per card, but you can do it as a straight list, hard copy or on screen. Do it in columns if doing a straight list. 
  2. NAME EACH SCENE
  3. WHAT IS THE MAIN ACTION? 
  4. WHAT CHARACTERS?
  5. WHOSE POV? If only one POV that’s easy J
  6. DOES THIS SCENE MOVE US TOWARDS HOPE OR FEAR? See Suspense = Hope + Fear if you don’t know what this means.
  7. WHAT KIND OF SCENE/SECTION IS IT? – Reflective sections in memoir? Character reflections/ action/comedy/sad etc
  8. WHERE IS IT SET?

So you’d have seven columns for this version

SCENE NAME. ACTION.  CHARACTERS. POV. H/F. TYPE. SETTING 

Add whatever other details feel relevant to you and your story. EG if you’re interweaving POV characters you could colour code their POV sections to make sure you have an even balance. Or length of the scene as well – number of pages etc.

This process may take a while. You may end up with hundreds of scenes. GOOD! If you’re struggling to figure out what would be a scene, then that’s a sure sign you’re telling more than showing, and a signal to actually WRITE IN SCENES. See How to Write a Scene if you’re having trouble.

That’s us waving good bye to scenes that no longer serve the story 🙂

Once you’re done look for these key things

  1. REPETITION – of scenes, settings, ideas, plot points (eg I’ve already realised that in my latest Work In Progress I’ve done a couple of scenes with my protagonist finding her son asleep drunk in the lounge – one has to go!) Like me, you’ll have to pick the best of the repeated scenes, or echoes, to keep, and either change or delete the other/s. Make sure you haven’t shown us a scene and then done another scene with characters just rehashing the action without adding anything new or moving the plot forward.
  2. NOT ENOUGH ACTION – have you got a whole lot of scenes with people thinking? Is there any forward movement in your story? THIS COULD BE A GAP YOU NEED TO FILL, or you need to think more about what is at stake in your story.
  3. TOO MUCH FEAR/ TOO MUCH HOPE – have you got as much movement as possible between hope and fear? If you’ve got a long patch of only fear fear fear, consider moving scenes around to bring balance or creating a scene of hope between all the hard stuff. Or the other way around.
  4. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO ADD? Are there gaps in the story? Is someone’s POV missing from most of it? Does a character of importance suddenly appear halfway through the second act? Have you forgotten to add any reflection?
  5. WHAT CAN GO? This is when you call back in that inner critic and make them work for you. What scenes are there just because you really liked the feel of it, or the memory attached? 

These are the cut rules. First make a separate file called “Good bits for later” where you can put your offcuts. Then,

CUT if your scene:

  1. Repeats without adding anything.
  2. Is off track and confusing (no matter how pretty)
  3. Is too much backstory – slowing everything down – keep snippets to thread through
  4. Shows a character doing something that doesn’t fit with who they are – unless it’s a potent moment of change, of course.
  5. Is rambling, feels like padding. LESS LESS LESS IS MORE.
  6. Is a subplot you forgot about halfway through after you realised it wasn’t necessary.
  7. Doesn’t move the plot forward or show us something new about the character.
  8. Doesn’t feel right anymore – trust your gut.

No more clambering through pages and pages – now you can just refer to your list!

The scene list identifies plot holes and needed character development by showing us a template of our whole book in a more manageable form. I like to lay my cards out on a big table (or the floor) to get a good overview, then I can shuffle my physical cards around, remove them, add in new scene ideas where they fit, and “see” my story laid out in full, identify any patterns and fill any holes as I go. 

You can do all sorts of colour coding and add special ratings, EG: for Thrill Seekers I had a “Bleakness scale”. Yep, I needed to add a lot of light to balance things out.

Any questions, just ask in the comments or drop me a line.

I’m offering a free online writing workshop in December for subscribers to my newsletter so remember to sign up by the end of November to get the link! SUBSCRIBE HERE.

I hope you’ll find the scene list as useful as I have. It takes work, but once you see how powerfully it reveals the strengths and flaws of your MS, you’ll know it was worth it!

Lots of love

Edwina xx

CREATE COMPLEX CHARACTERS IN 5 EASY STEPS

/ Edwina Shaw / 1 Comment

How do we make our characters real? We want every important character in our books and stories to be well-rounded, with strengths and weaknesses, secrets, a past, and hidden flaws and virtues. Trouble is when we start writing we sometimes forget this, and our characters die on the page before they’ve even had the chance to come to life. 

Here are some concrete, easy ways to really get to know your characters and to translate this knowledge into complex, intriguing characters on the page. Remember, above all else, characters reveal who they are by how they ACT. CharACTers take action and make moves based on their own inner callings and desires. These exercises are for the writer’s benefit only. Write as much or as little as you like on each step, then incorporate the very best telling details, insights and possible plot points into your project. The better you know your character, the more rounded they’ll be on the page.

Let’s get to it!

1 Physicality – Describe your character’s appearance. Pay special attention to small details like whether or not their fingernails are clean, how old their clothes are, what care they put into their appearance, and any specific details that give us clues to who they are. Where do they get their clothes? The very best fashion boutiques or second-hand stores? What does their voice sound like? What’s their favourite expression? What do they smell like? Why? What is the texture of their skin? How do they feel in their bodies. (This is a great exercise to do if you can suspend disbelief and get into the body of your character and FEEL what it’s like to be them.) Find some special talisman, good luck charm or something else they hold dear to them – maybe a piece of jewellery or something they keep in their pocket or purse. What meaning does it hold for them? Why?

2. Next, describe where your character lives. Where do they call home? What telling details can you find in their living spaces? Photographs or paintings on the walls? General tidiness or not. Music? What clues does their environment give you to their character? Find a few specific details that reveal something about them. Then do the same when describing the contents of their fridge or cupboards, their dressing table or bathroom cabinet. What new clues to their personalities can you discover? Let your imagination do the work – free-write and see where your intuition takes you. Do the same for their handbag, wallet, backpack or briefcase – what stands out as unusual? You are looking for unique, unexpected, telling details.

3. Scar from the past. Even if your character is a child, they have a past. What were the shaping incidents in this character’s life that influenced the person they’ve become? For example, as a middle child Frankie always tried to get her mother’s attention by either being good, or by being naughty. She soon learnt she got more attention from being naughty which has shaped how she now interacts in the world as a disruptor and political activist. Write a few pages on the different shaping events in your characters life. How have these events shaped them? What decisions or beliefs about how life is, or patterns of behaviour resulted? What deep emotional desire was inspired by these happenings? This last point is most important. WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER’S DEEPEST EMOTIONAL OR SPIRITUAL GOAL?

4. Life goals – You’ve figured out what your story person wants most emotionally, but we live in a world obsessed by more worldly desires. What are your character’s physical goals? Career ambitions, romance and family, revenge, fame and fortune, justice, healing, finding someone or something? Write a monologue in their first person voice, getting them to tell you what they want, what they really, really want (Paraphrasing the Spice Girls 🙂 ). This monologue will also help you find their natural speaking voice for dialogue – or for a whole piece in first person.

Once you have figured out what these goals are, then figure out which are most important for your story. Which goals have the most potential for drama and conflict? What are possible oppositions to these goals? Remember, don’t make things too easy for your characters. Narrative needs conflict like we need air to breathe. No conflict, no story. Identify your character’s goals on three levels – Physical world, Emotional and Spiritual. Do these somehow fit together? This will help shape your plot. By having a deep understanding of your characters on all these levels you’ll know their motivations in every scene and can create meaningful opposition to their goals that will force them into taking action which will in turn reveal more about their character.

5. Secrets. Hidden flaws and talents. Looking closely at the picture you’re building of your character, go deeper and get them to spill the beans on their darkest secrets and hidden fears. Write another monologue that starts with: “I never usually tell anyone this but …” Before you know it, you’ll have some very juicy material to use in your story. Other goals may be generated, but mostly it will give you great insight into how they see themselves and the world. Get them to tell you about their strengths and weaknesses, but once they’re done, play psychiatrist and delve deep into their psyches to figure out which flaw will play into their downfall and what hidden talents or abilities may lead them to victory in the end? Write a list of flaws and talents and write possible plot points that could be caused by each of these. Write at least one positive story event and one possible negative result or action springing from each of these.

That’s it! Once you know the deepest heart of your characters, whenever you write a scene their actions and reactions will come to you instinctively, because you know them so well. EASY!

The reader does not need to be privy to all this information, but you do! Don’t put it all in the story but let this background knowledge inform the whole story. Use your character’s past, flaws and talents to shape a meaningful plot with a character arc that feels real, because it springs from deep desires and ancient wounds. Reveal different meaningful aspects of the character’s past as a drip feed throughout the story so the reader comes to understand them gradually – no big info dump at the start! And remember to always leave room for your characters to surprise you! If they suddenly say something or do something that you hadn’t planned, then let them have their heads for a while and see where it takes you.

Hope that’s useful! Let me know how you go with the activities. Here are more posts on character creation The C- Word Method and Will She or Won’t She.

Lots of love

Edwina xx