From Seconds to Eternity: Time and Space in Fictional Writing - Part 1

“When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity.”  -Albert Einstein 

Literature, in its own right, is tied to time like no other art form I know of.  For example, a photograph or a painting is an image of a moment in time and last only as long as it takes to look at it.  Same could be said about music.  A song lasting 2.5 minutes represents the 2.5 minutes it takes to listen to it.  

A book takes time to read as well; however, the reader can be transported through time whether they spend five minutes reading or several hours.  For example, it’s possible to write a story that takes thirty minutes to read and covers thirty minutes of action or the time covered could be stretched out over a lifetime.  There are no requirements when it comes to fictional writing.  

As a writer, the possibilities to capture time and space in a story are infinite; but just like a scientist developing a time machine, there are methods to the madness and I’m not talking about something as complex as a flux capacitor! 

Let’s explore:

Summary and Scene

Summary covers a relatively long period of time in a short amount of distance.  It’s a useful method to help reveal information, explain a character’s background, change the pace or to advance forward or backwards in time.

Scene is to fiction what the five senses are to living.  In other words, they allow your readers to experience the elements of your characters’ lives through sight, sound, scent, taste and touch.

It’s possible to write a short story in a single scene, without any summary at all, but it’s not possible to write a successful story completely in summary.  By summarizing events rather than having them realized as moments of time in your character’s life, you disconnect the reader from putting themselves in your character’s shoes.  

To put it simply, summary allows you to speed up time in your story and fill in the gap of missing information, scene allows you to slow the pace and fill in the gap of missing details; smells, colors, sensations...etc., you get the picture.  

Eventually, a story requires a trigger or a crisis to occur that is crucial to a turning point in your protagonist’s life and cannot be summarized, therefore, all stories require scenes.   

One simple formula I use to help keep on track to bring balance between summary and scene is the following:

Scene elements Summary elements

Goal                Emotion

Conflict             Thought

Disaster            Decision

                       Action

Basically, in a scene, a character has a goal (maybe to fix a cup of coffee, thus allowing smell and taste to be interjected) then a conflict arises (they knock the mug over, spilling hot coffee on their lap, in could come sight and touch) and next a disaster (the phone rings, Aunt Ruby just died, time for sound).  

Moving from scene to summary will now allow the pace to quicken.  The character reacts to the news (they remember when growing up they were the only one Aunt Ruby never sent a birthday or Christmas present to (a long period of time in a short distance)) then they think about what just happened (Aunt Ruby became filthy rich when her husband died) now they make a decision (they will go to the funeral and put on a show of sorrow) then the character takes action based upon their decision (they take their best suit to the cleaners).  

So as we can see, by using the method of summary and scene we are able to transport our readers through time in a matter of a few sentences or several pages.

In Part II, we will explore two more methods for transporting our readers through time; flashback and slow motion.

Until next time,

Keep on thriving, keep on striving and keep on writing!

T.K. Millin

How Discovering Scene and Sequel Changed the Way I Write Forever: Part Two

In Part One, (click here), we explored how the three elements of a scene; goal, conflict and disaster, plays a part in conveying plots. In Part Two, we’ll be exploring its counterpart, sequel, and how it plays a role in conveying story.  

A sequel acts as a transition or a bridge between scenes. Better yet, think in terms of how movies literally use a visual scene of “crossing over a bridge” to show a transition between scenes. In literature, it’s a technique used to show your readers what your character is thinking and feeling about what happened in the preceding scene. Sequels also are a great way to provide backstory, convey logic and to convince readers your story is believable.

Let’s explore:

Sequels bring meaning to the action of a previous scene through their four elements; emotion, thought, decision and action. It’s also important they are written in this exact order. Why? Because emotion is the reaction your character has to the end of the previous scene, the disaster, and thought allows your reader to understand why they feel the way they do. Decision is how your character responds to their feelings and action is the outcome of their emotional struggle.

Let’s examine by breaking down Scene II from Part One’s example of scene and add a breakdown of sequel to see how it adds meaning:

The desert flower was so unique it made me reach out and pluck its sweet aroma {goal}, making the buzzing bee angry {conflict}. Feeling its stinging pinch I reach into my back pack just as I remembered forgetting to pack my EpiPen {disaster}. Suddenly, Emma’s soft touch and Billy’s blue eyes flashed before my eyes {emotion}, adding to my panic. If only I had listened to Emma when she said we needed life insurance after Billy was born {thought}. Frantically taking in the surroundings I hear the roar of a distant engine and decide today is not a good day to die {decision}. Throwing my back pack across my shoulder I shove the desert flower in my pocket {action}; after all, it will make the the perfect anniversary gift. 

Scenes should often times be exciting and full of action, while sequels should tend to slow it down and provide an opportunity for reaction. In other words, if your story seems to be unbelievable, build up your sequels to make it credible. If it seems to be slow, increase the conflict by building up your scenes; thus, bringing balance to plot and story. 

I was so amazed once I learned this technique I now keep a typed written note directly in front of my writing zone which looks exactly like this:

Scene          Sequel

Goal           Emotion

Conflict       Thought

Disaster       Decision

               Action

It helps me to keep a balance between plot and story as I write and on those rare occasions when I suffer from writer's block, it helps to keep me thinking forward and what my characters are going through. Try it, you just might be amazed!

Until next time,

Keep on thriving, keep on striving and keep on writing!

T.K. Millin

The Unknown Author

  

  

How Discovering Scene and Sequel Changed the Way I Write Forever: Part One

I’ve never met an author who said they just one day woke up and decided it would be cool to be a writer and set their life compass in that direction. For most, wanting to write is a desire driven by a deep internal writer’s voice. Some authors pursue a writer’s life straight out of high school or college, (and for some while they’re still in school!), but I believe it’s safe to say most of us go on to do something else while our ever persisting writer’s voice keeps nagging, tugging and pulling at us until we eventually take the path we were meant to walk. 

So, many years ago when I finally succumbed to my writer’s voice I sought the wisdom and expertise of authors who willingly and openly taught their experience to aspiring writers.  It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Like most aspiring writers, I had a good understanding of the three-act structure.  I knew about opening with a hook, creating a trigger for the crisis, having an epiphany before the climax, and finally, The End.  (Yes, I was one of those “geeks” in high school who paid attention in English Lit, in fact, I loved it!)  What I didn’t know was how scenes themselves are divided into their own internal structure known as scene and sequel and how discovering this would change the way I write forever.

Let’s explore:

Scenes are mostly plot (action) and sequels are mostly story (emotional). Last week, we explored the defining difference between plot and story (click here).  Basically put, scenes move the action forward while sequels explore the action’s effect on your protagonist.  

Scenes and sequel always come in pairs for one cannot exist without the other.  For example, a scene without a sequel would have no meaning and a sequel without a preceding scene would have no reason to exist at all.

This week we’ll break down scene and how it plays a role in conveying plot.   

SCENE

It’s important for every scene to do two things; provide interest and move the story forward.  Which is why every scene has three elements: goal, conflict and disaster, and it’s important they consist in this order.  Why?  The goal is what your protagonist desires; it’s what sets them in motion.  It can be a goal of an object, information or even revenge.  The conflict is a struggle against some opposing factor and it can be a verbal, mental or physical struggle which will provide interest and disaster is what keeps the readers reading to find out how the character deals with it.  Without these three elements it’s most likely the reader will put your book down and never return to it.

Let’s examine:  Which scene makes you want to read more?

Scene I:  The desert flower was so unique, but remembering I forgot to pack my EpiPen the buzzing bee made me decide not to pick its sweet aroma. Hint:(zzzzzzzzzzz)  

Scene II:  The desert flower was so unique it made me reach out and pluck its sweet aroma, making the buzzing bee angry. Feeling its stinging pinch I reach into my back pack just as I remembered forgetting to pack my EpiPen. Hint: (Oh no, will they have an allergic reaction and die before they can get help?)

What’s the difference?  The first one lacks the three elements of goal, conflict and disaster while the second one doesn’t. 

Let’s break it down:

The flower was so unique it made me reach out and pluck its sweet aroma {goal}, making the buzzing bee angry {conflict}. Feeling its stinging pinch I reach into my back pack just as I remembered leaving my EpiPen at home {disaster}.

So if you have a scene that fails to provide interest and move the story forward, you need to cut it-even if it is one of your favorite scenes.  However, don’t delete it forever, it you’re like me you save all your written words for you never know where they may find a home!

It’s important to understand a scene can be as long as a paragraph or as long as a few chapters.  It’s also important to understand a scene is not every single sentence.  In other words, every sentence is not goal, conflict and disaster.  Some writers will end a chapter at a goal or a disaster, both making the reader wanting to turn the page.  This is the same technique used by script writers to create a cliffhanger. 

Next week, we’ll explore sequel to find out how it plays a role in conveying story and how when you combine scene and sequel together it can change the way you write forever!

Until then,

Keep on thriving, keep on striving and keep on writing!

T.K. Millin

The Unknown Author