the soul of a scene

I’m currently bouncing back and forth between two revisions. One will creep forward, and then the other will, and then I sneak off to work on the sequel for the first one. The writing is both a reward and a necessity–I have until the second week of July to finish at least fifty pages so they can be sent to a writing workshop.

It’s insane and exciting. The story is mostly outlined so I write snippets and question my outline. What’s the point of this scene? And this one?

As I question each scene, I make a list. I write everything down that comes to mind. The characters work together. The characters’ actions seperate them from the others, making them look suspicious. I need a scene between this one and the next. There are similarities between now, when the protagonist talks to his brother, and later, when the villian talks to the brother.

That second one on the list surprises me. I hadn’t noticed that before, and it excites me. I write a snippet and then go on to the next scene. What’s the point of this one? Dig past the obvious answers. What’s at stake? What’s the soul of the scene? What are the characters afraid of?

I ask the same questions in my revisions. The novels fare well, though occasionally I grimace when the scene is turns out to just be a transition from one moment to the next. A quick rewrite, and then I’m on my way again. Each story will be the best it can be. It just takes time.

Written by Luisa Prieto

Dark fantasy writer by day, dark fantasy writer by night. I'm charmingly dull that way ;)
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