Scene Work

Sometimes, a story wants or needs a beat that we have seen many, many times before. That makes it more of a challenge, not less.

The button is the last line of a scene. It is the final moment before we transition out of one scene and into the next.

The first line of every scene is special. It has a purpose. This purpose is especially important as there is so much friction for the reader in the transition from one scene to another.

So much of the screenwriting I read just kind of moves along. t's all very polite. No bad pages. But there aren't any great scenes, either.

It's the emotion, stupid. The emotion is what counts. Always, always, always.

Movies are an emotion delivery system. This is the point of the whole exercise. And that is the point of the scene.

The key to keeping a scene fresh and alive is characters making choices in reaction to what happens around them.

Given the characters, genre, situation, relationships, and the concepts we have established: What do we want to see?

The narrative point of view is through whom we experience a story, scene, or moment. We get information as they do, and often, as a result, that is who we empathize with.

But you don't have to wait until you're working on a project to develop great scenes. In fact, you shouldn't.

Nothing keeps us engaged in a story more than tension. It's one of the most effective tools we have to keep the audience watching.

Screenwriting is scene work. Scenes and sequences are at the heart of what we do. But how do we write great scenes, and how do we REwrite them?