Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Scene analysis

I've come to realize that virtually every scene in Tx3 breaks down to three parts. I don't think all my writing goes like this, not the short stories anyway, but the novels kinda do this all the time! Especially Tea Times Three.

The Set Up- I set the scene, establish the setting, the action and the POV character. I also begin with a recap of what's happened off stage that is pertinent to what is happening.

Action- Usually dialogue or some interaction/conflict with another character. This goes on until it... well, ends. Either the parties resolve, or since Tx3 is very real-world based people usually either back down, get exasperated and drop it, or just leave without any resolution.

Reflection- The POV character then reflects on their feelings and lingering misgivings about what just happened. Sometimes they come to a conclusion about how they feel and why they feel that way but as often as not their emotional life is as unsettled as whatever it was just happened.

Now, all this requires a bit of telling. I mean no one is running around performing verbs constantly. I want to involve the reader in the characters emotional lives and while SOMETIMES emotion is physically demonstrable it isn't always! Otherwise we'd have people running around crying and punching walls all the time. I mean how often aside from a few verbal and body language ques do people emote a ton in public? OK, this day in age maybe that is a bad question. People just run around and flail and tell strangers in the grocery line the most horribly personal information. But do you really want to read about people flailing and pounding their fist all the time? Or do you want to read what the character is thinking?

Oh, and Happy Birthday to ME!

And Happy New Year to you all!

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