Wednesday, September 10, 2014

THE ENDURING QUESTIONS


When it comes to scenes be obsessive. The scene is the equivalent of a sentence - it presents a complete dramatic ‘idea’ (action) that moves the story forward. Every scene offers the writer another opportunity to take a risk. The accumulation of risks taken makes the story that is being told compelling. Read through each scene, revising and beefing up the emotional energy. Don’t simply look at and work with the broad swept of the narrative. Every scene has a beginning, middle and end that asks you to take a chance - every scene is a manageable miniature of the big story that beckons to you to create an explosion, either large or small. String enough of these together in an unexpected and credible way, and you’ve got a story.

- Billy Marshall Stoneking


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