Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - The Middle - Scenes #MFRWauthor #writing

The middle of the story is where most of the scenes take place. One must rememberthat each scene has one or more of three purposes.

The first of the three is to advance the story. Writing a scene that takes the characters nowhere is a wasted effort. There needs to be something within the scene that advances one or more characters toward their goal. The scene could also show a character being diverted from their goal.

The second of the three is to establish the character - Showing who the character is and how they plan to act will give the reader a way to accept or reject the character. If the character acts one way in one scene and another in a second the reader needs a reason for the change in the character's manner. If none is provided the reader will close the book.

The third of the three is to show the setting. Giving the reader the atmosphere in which the characters operate is important. For me this is the hardest part of writing. But this is necessary since showing the setting gives tone and atmosphere and to draw the reader deeper into the story.

Now having seen the three purposes of the scene think of this. To provide one of the purposes is good. Two is better. Three makes the scene really great and keeps the reader turning pages.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - The Middle #MFRWauthor #amwriting

After the beginning the story moves to the middle. This is where the action takes place. To make the middle, the writer needs to remember the hero, heroine and other characters have several things. Oneof these is their goals and the goals don't always march together. Often one or more characters had goals in conflict with the main character or characters.

These goals cause characters to react and to react. Only in exploring these reactions and actions does the story progress. The goals are bound by the characters motives. Why does he, she or they want a certain goal. Using these motivations drives the story forward. Only when the motivations of the lead characters are of the same level of importance to each other does the story grip the reader.

The actions and reactions of the characters make for scenes. Each scene in the middle of the story must lead forward. If the scenes fall flat so will the story. So dig deep as you write your story. Remember each scene has a goal and the goal can be varied and hopefully will be. There's nothing more boring than to have the scenes in a story have the same goal and become repeats of the one before with the reader learning nothing new about the ultimate ending of the story. Next time we'll look at the three reasons a scene can address. Perhaps one and perhaps more.