Cover
Halftitle page
Title page
Copyright page
Dedication
Contents
Why a Book about Scenes?
Planning, Drafting, Perfecting
What is a Great Scene, Anyway?
PART I Planning
1 What Do They Want and Why?
What’s It All about?
EXERCISE: Overarching Goal
One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor
Kinds of Scene Goals
Objects
Words from Others
Getting Somewhere
Completing a Task
Qualities of Scene Goals
Relatability
Specificity
Achievability
EXERCISE: And . . . Scene.
2 Why Can’t They Have It?
The Universe Is out to Get You
You Can’t Share a Parking Space
But I Thought We Were Friends
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
Things in Absentia
It’s Not You, It’s Me
EXERCISE: Exploring the Possibilities
The Just Right Obstacle
Resonance with World and Tone
Resonance with Theme
EXERCISE: What Story Does This Obstacle Tell?
Time Isn’t on Your Side
EXERCISE: Limit the Resources, and Pick
3 What Are They Gonna Do about It?
Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something!
You Talkin’ to Me? (Characters versus Others)
You Can’t Argue with a River (Characters versus Things)
I’m My Own Worst Enemy (Character versus Self)
Getting By with a Little Help from My Friends
EXERCISE: Exploring Approaches
It’s Only a Mistake if You Don’t Learn From It
Themes Like a Good Idea
EXERCISE: So THAT Didn’t Work . . .
Where’re You Going with This?
EXERCISE: So How Does Your Scene End?
Not All Actions Are Created Equal
Cooking Up Stakes
Matching World and Tone
EXERCISE: One Full Approach
4 Where And When Is It Gonna Happen?
It’s about Freakin’ Time
EXERCISE: Identify Your Moment in Time
Location, Location, Location!
EXERCISE: Zooming in on the Precise Location
Research and Destroy
EXERCISE: Research and Character Preoccupations
PART II Drafting
5 The Fundamental Tools of Scenewriting
Show ’Em What You Got
Pacing
EXERCISE: Basic Practice with Scene Description
Use Your Words
EXERCISE: Basic Practice with Dialogue
6 The Art of Reader Engagement
Make ’Em Work for It
EXERCISE: Mapping out a Treasure Hunt
Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Shock
EXERCISE: Leverage the Unusual in Your Scene
Make ’Em Wait
EXERCISE: Setting Up Anticipation
Feast Your Eyes on This!
EXERCISE: Add a Little Wonder
7 The Unformatted Draft
Let’s Get This Party Started
When and Where
Knock Knock . . .
Better Late Than Boring
EXERCISE: Writing the Beginning
Scenis Morghulis: All Scenes Must End
Reveals
The Natural Ending
The Cyclical Ending
The Reversal Ending
The Unexplained Mystery Ending
Inviting the Reader into the Next Scene
We’re Closing Early
EXERCISE: Writing the End
In the Middle with You
One Thing Leads to Another (But and Therefore)
What’s at Stake
EXERCISE: Filling out the Middle
8 Formatting for Fun and Profit
Courier? I Don’t Even Know Her!
A Minute Per Page
EXERCISE: Pick Your Software and Import Your Unformatted Draft
A Slugline Says What?
EXERCISE: Writing Sluglines
You Lookin’ at Me?
Callouts
Transition Callouts
EXERCISE: Format That Scene Description
You Got Something to Say?
Wrylies
Pauses and Interruptions
MORE and CONT’D
Trailing Off, Interrupting, and Talking Over
Other Ways Characters Can Talk: O.S. and V.O.
EXERCISE: Format Your Dialogue
PART III Perfecting
9 Check Your Length
The Bare Necessities
EXERCISE: Throwin’ Strikeouts
Whoa, I Think I Missed Something
EXERCISE: Did You Throw out the Baby with the Bathwater?
10 Managing Scene Information in Dialogue
As You Know, I’m Your Son
I’m So Conflicted
Do You Know Why I Pulled You Over?
Thank You, Captain Obvious
EXERCISE: Un-obviousing Your Exposition
Yeah, You Already Said That
Here We Are in Prison
That’s My Name, Don’t Wear It Out
EXERCISE: Removing Redundant Exposition
11 Bringing Authenticity into Your Dialogue
Keepin’ It Real
I’m Listening
Speaking of Questions . . .
EXERCISE: Going Off -Topic and Ignoring
Read Between the Lines
Using Subtext to Avoid Hurt Feelings
Off-Topic Subtext
Using Subtext to Communicate Emotions
EXERCISE: What I Mean Is . . .
You Sound Just Like My Mom
EXERCISE: Finding Your Voice
The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
EXERCISE: Music in Dialogue
12 Final Polish
Once More with Feeling
Scene POV
Spotlight It
Writer’s Commentary
Poetic Impression
EXERCISE: Write in the Feels
Smooth It Out
Eschew Impenetrability
Avoid Ambiguity
SProoffrreading Are Important
EXERCISE: Line by Line, for Clarity
Last Looks
White Space for the Win
Compressing
EXERCISE: Expand and Compress
Okay, Now What?
Bonus Chapter: Expanding Your Development Circle
Not All Readers Are Created Equal
EXERCISE: Build Your Reading Roster
Readings Are Fundamental
First-Time Readers
Slings and Arrows
Prepping Questions
Receiving Critique
EXERCISE: Preparing for a Reading
Found in Translation
Collecting
Waiting
Translating
Revising
EXERCISE: Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Appendix A: References
Appendix B: Course Adoption Guide
A Scenewriting-Only Course
Custom Modular Adoption
Example Adoption into a Pilot- or Feature-Writing Course
Example Adoption into a Short Film Writing Course
Acknowledgments
Index
