What is a Scene? Answer Two Questions to Get It Right

Think of your next scene: if you can’t answer two key questions, you’re wasting your reader’s time. Here’s how to ensure every moment counts.

Two Sides of the Coin

There are two critical aspects of what defines a scene:

1. Pragmatic: A scene is a part of your story that happens in one place at one time.

2. Conceptual: A scene is a collection of moments where something shifts emotionally, something changes for the characters.

If a scene doesn't successfully incorporate both the pragmatic and conceptual aspects, your writing won’t engage your readers or move the story along. This is the challenge and excitement of your craft. When you masterfully blend these two aspects in every scene, you’ve made a giant leap forward in your authorial skill.

The Pragmatic Definition: Time, Place, and Action

A scene is a part of your story that happens in one place and one time. It's a unit of storytelling where something happens. For example, if your character is talking to someone in a coffee shop, that's a scene. If they move to a park and the conversation continues, that's a new scene. If you follow them step-by-step from one place to another, it's debatable; I'd argue that if it's only one emotional arc, then it's one scene.

This practical definition helps you break your story into easily understandable parts. Chunking down your story into manageable parts is a good productivity hack. It involves breaking your story into smaller, more manageable sections, preventing you from feeling overwhelmed and helping you focus on one part of the story at a time. Most of the time, scenes happen in a single place continuously. This is the simplest way to think about a scene.

But there's more to it than just time and place.

The Conceptual Definition: An Emotional Change

A scene is not just a static setting or a sequence of actions. It's a pivotal moment of change in your story. It's about what changes emotionally in the story or in how characters feel. This is the real purpose of a scene, and it's where your storytelling skills truly shine.

Robert McKee calls this a value state change. A scene starts with something positive or negative; by the end, that value state should shift. For example, your scene might begin with a character feeling confident (positive state of mind), but by the end, they feel unsure (negative state of mind). This change is what gives your scene momentum. Your stories need to move, or it dies, just like sharks. Without change, your scene is just a moment in time, and it doesn't move the story forward.

The Emotional Shift

Every scene should have an emotional shift. They’re the beats of your story. By the end of each scene, your characters—or the reader—should feel different than they did at the start. This emotional shift is what keeps readers interested, intrigued, and immersed. So many “i” words! It's the flow in your storytelling, the magic sauce that captivates and engages your reader.

Shawn Coyne discusses how each scene should build tension and conflict in The Story Grid. Your scene should have a clear purpose—to reveal something new, push the story forward, or challenge the character. If you don’t accelerate or impede your character, then what the hell are you doing? Come on! You need that emotional change, that clear narrative impulse, so every scene moves.

Clarity in Storytelling

As a comic creator, clarity is everything. Here's the simple takeaway:

• Pragmatically, your scene should show a specific time and place.

• Conceptually, your scene should change something—the character's emotions, the story itself, or the situation.

Without change, you don't have a real scene—you just have a moment. Moments alone don't make a good story.

A Sprinkle of Etymology Regarding "Scene"

The word "scene" comes from the Greek word "skēnē," which initially meant the stage in a theater where actors performed. Over time, it came to mean any part of a story where vital action or dialogue happens.

In writing, a scene is where something significant unfolds—where characters face change, conflict, or discovery. It's the narrative space where your story moves forward, much like the action on a stage.

Curtain Call

So when you're writing your next scene, ask yourself those two key questions:

• Where are we physically and temporally?

• What changes emotionally?

If you can answer both, you're in a decent position regarding scenes in your story.

Once you’ve nailed your scenes, you can string one after another until you have a killer story that moves.

I’m gonna go get on that. You should, too.

Charles Merritt Houghton

18 October 2024