Chicken Soup for a Sick Scene and Sequel – A Tool to Engage Your Audience
I love family stories. Remember sitting around the table, telling stories, often the same stories year after year. It doesn’t matter what you’re writing–it can be a historical thriller or a book for your family. Chicken Soup story is a good way to study and practice writing a scene and sequel. If you sell your story at www.ChickenSoup.com, that’s great. If not, you have a great chapter for your family book. If you do sell it, you’re $200 richer. Have a question? Leave a comment.
If you teach writing to children check out the games in Teach Writing Without a Pencil
Lesson One
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That’s easy…
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There’s 3 in a play…
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It’s something you paint or take a picture of…
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It’s what your child creates at your mother-in-law’s dinner party
A scene is the major part of a story.
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A story is a narrative of events, a recounting of something that’s happened—either in the real world or in the fictional world.
Like a Play
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A play can be broken up into three acts: beginning, middle, and end. The beginning is the setup, it creates the tension. The middle of the scene builds up and intensifies even more. The ending breaks down into two parts: climax and resolution.
Acts are broken down into scenes
Scene
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Something you paint or photograph
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You don’t tell about a scene
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You have to show it.
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Practice
A girl sits by her father. He slumps to the ground. He dies. She cries believes her life is over.
Telling vs showing.
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A scene is a conflict lived through by character and reader. Dwight Swain says that there are two functions of a scene –
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To provide interest and
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To move your story forward.
A scene can:
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Can raise a question to intrigue your reader
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Can be used to build characterization.
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Can provide information.
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But it always moves the story along
How long is a scene?
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Swain says that time holds a scene together. A character lives through a scene, and there are no breaks in the flow of life.
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A teenager arrives at Prom. He dances with the girl of his. When he stumbles on her dress, they fall. He leaves and the scene is over.
Remember
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Use action verbs
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Keep the internal thought to a minimum
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Use a great deal of dialogue if possible. Dialogue is a nifty way to show how people feel without telling the reader.
Construct a scene of something in your life.
Feel free to post it and I’ll give you an edit on it.
Chicken Soup asking for stories here…
