Writing Challenge: Scene Creation

A story is made up of scenes.

Whether there are two of them or two hundred of them, they are what makes the story. There is no story without scenes.

So what exactly is a scene?

A scene is when something changes, and the moment of change is what defines the completion of a scene.

Your challenge is to read this article by Holly Lisle: Scene-Creation Workshop: Writing Scenes that Move your Story Forward, and complete the tasks set therein, which are:


Number one:

“Write a brief scene with no characters, a clear location, a limited period of time, and a single event that changes and moves the story forward. (You don't actually have to have a story in mind. Just pretend you do.) When you've finished it, come back and we'll move on.”

Number two:

“Write a scene in which a single character moves through one location in a limited period of time, saying nothing, and makes a single change that moves the story forward.”

Number three:

“Two characters, one setting, a period of from five to ten minutes in which something happens that changes their relationship with each other and turns the story in a new direction.”

After reading the article, you should already have some ideas for each of these steps.

Post your three different scenes here, and be sure to lay them out appropriately (that is, with proper editing and paragraphs). Learning to write good scenes, ones that move your story forward, is the first step to writing a novel with lots of action, and that's always a good thing. As Ms. Lisle says, “The big thing to remember in writing a scene – any scene – is that it isn't a scene until something changes; and once something changes, it's time to move on.”

Reward: Earn a maximum of 10 Honor Points based on your excerpt's word count.

100 words or less = 10 Easy Points
101-300 words = 10 Medium Points
301-500 words = 10 Hard Points

Have fun with this one!