Perhaps the most instinctive of all the Scene’s* building blocks
is the decision. This third and final piece of the sequel grows out of the character’s dilemma and leads right into
the next scene’s goal. The decision
is the little cattle prod on your story’s backside that keeps it moving.
Conceivably, your character could sit around contemplating his dilemmas for the
rest of his life. But good stories require forward motion, and the only way out
of a dilemma is to make a decision—whether it’s right or wrong.
As always, the key to a good decision is making sure it is a direct result of the previous dilemma. A random, unrelated decision may
well keep the plot moving, but not in the straight line your readers want. If your character’s
dilemma is about what to make for dinner, his decision needs to be filet mignon
and lyonnaise potatoes—not to run down to the hospital and donate blood.
Options for Sequel Decisions
You’re not going to find a story technique that’s much more
straightforward than the sequel
decision. Basically, the options boil down to just two:
1. To take action.
2. To not take action.
Both are acceptable choices, but usually, you’re going to want
your character to make decisions that will force to him to act. You want a
character who causes thing to happen, not one who sits around and allows them to happen to him. That said, there will be moments when a character’s decision to refrain from
action will be just as important to the plot and just as revealing of his inner conflict as would be the most exciting of actions.
Your character’s specific decision will, of course, depend
entirely on the nature of his dilemma. His decision may be anything from I’m going to wear blue socks today to I’m going to sacrifice my life to save
everybody in that burning building. Whatever the case, it will translate
into a goal that will fit into one of the five categories we discussed in our
post on goals.
Long-Term Goal, Short-Term Decision
Often, your character’s dilemma won’t be one that can be
solved with a simple one-shot decision. In fact, you’ll want to actively avoid
too many simple dilemmas/decisions in a row. If the character is faced with one
easily solved problem after another, the story will take on a scattered, episodic
feel, and readers will be begin to doubt the insurmountability of the odds.
This is where the “long-term goal, short-term decision”
factor comes into play. If your character’s problem is how to marry that
cute neighbor girl, he’s going to be faced with many “mini” dilemmas along the
way to reaching his ultimate goal. In figuring out your sequel’s decision, look for the first step the character must take.
Maybe he does decide to marry the neighbor girl in that first sequel, but he also has to decide on a
much smaller, more plausible course of action. In this case, he decides to
apologize for yelling at the girl’s dog.
Obvious Decision or Long-Shot Decision?
Your character’s decisions will shape the plot. If all his
decisions are obvious and easily accomplished, the story will quickly lose
steam. You don’t want characters to consistently decide upon ridiculous or illogical courses of action. But you do want to keep the odds long and readers
guessing.
Our lovelorn hero’s most sensible course of action in trying
to marry the neighbor girl might be to simply ask her out. Nothing wrong with
that, and it could certainly lead to all kinds of interesting story
possibilities of its own. But we might be able to unearth some unexpected options by having him make a different decision. Maybe he decides to
serenade her outside her window. Maybe he decides to make himself forget all about her. Or maybe, like Anabel Simms in the classic movie Every Girl Should Be Married, he
investigates every aspect of the girl’s life in an attempt to casually infiltrate her routines.
To State the Decision or Not?
You’re always going to want to be able to put your
character’s decision into words. Write it down so you have something concrete to build
upon. But you may not want to actually state the decision outright in the story.
Often, the decision will be clear from either the preceding dilemma or the goal in the
next scene. Sometimes, the decision
won’t even be made until seconds before the character acts upon it, in which case it will meld with the goal.
A few guidelines:
Don’t state the
decision outright if it is in any way repetitious or condescending to readers. If
the decision is clear from the context, it probably won’t require an outright explanation.
Do state the
decision outright if the act of deciding is just as important as the goal
(e.g., the decision is a turning point for the character).
Do state the decision
outright if you need a strong link between your sequel and the next scene
(e.g., several intervening Scenes separate the decision and the goal, and/or the
decision provides a strong end to the chapter.)
Questions to Ask About Your Sequel Decisions
Before you tie the ribbon on your sequel and call it a wrap, take a minute to double-check yourself
with the following questions:
1. Is your
decision an organic result of your dilemma?
2. Does your
decision lead into a strong goal?
3. If your
dilemma is a long-term problem, have you narrowed the decision down to the
first logical step in solving that problem?
4. Does your
decision solve the dilemma too easily
or does it lead to new complications, either because the character made the wrong decision
or because solving the dilemma created a new dilemma?
5. If your
character decides not to take action,
is this a logical and important step within the plot?
6. Is your
decision important enough to state outright in the sequel?
7. If you’ve
stated the decision outright, is it repetitious in light of either the
dilemma or the following goal?
Sequel Decisions in Action
What does this final building block of the sequel look like in action? Let’s take
one last peek at our books and movies:
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen: The second chapter ends
with the Bennet women’s dilemma about how to meet up with Mr. Bingley. This dilemma
is, of course, the first step in the much larger story dilemma of how to get
Bingley to marry one of the girls. The decision is never stated outright, but
its implication (Mrs. Bennet will invite Bingley to dinner at the appropriate
time) is clear both from the dilemma and from the actual dispatch of the invitation
at the beginning of the next chapter.
It’s a Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra: Clarence’s
dilemma is how to convince George he shouldn’t commit suicide in order to pay
off the accounting discrepancy with his life insurance. George’s offhand
comment about believing the people he cares about would be better off had he
never been born leads Clarence to his decision: he gets Joseph to make George’s
wish come true. The decision segues directly into the goal, which, easily
accomplished thanks to Joseph, segues right into the next scene’s conflict.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card: Ender’s dilemma about how to
get out of going to school turns into something much bigger when Graff and his
men show up at the house and give Ender the option of attending Battle School. Although
Ender’s ultimate decision to go with Graff effectually solves his sequel’s dilemma, it also introduces an
entirely new twist, which requires almost the entire chapter to explain and
reason through.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World directed by Peter
Weir: After discussing the battle with his officers, Captain Aubrey flies in the
face of their expectations and makes the surprising decision to remain in the Pacific,
refit the ship at sea, and then pursue the Acheron.
The outright statement of the decision is crucial since Aubrey’s taking
it upon himself to exceed his orders with this decision is more important at
this point than the actual goal itself. This decision will drive the entirety
of the plot, as well as Aubrey’s personal character arc.
You’ve now learned how to build an entire Scene, from scene (goal, conflict, disaster) to sequel (reaction, dilemma, decision). Put
one solid Scene upon another, and before you know it, you’ll have a story that’s
solid all the way through!
Stay tuned: Next
week, we’ll talk about Variations on the Sequel.
*For the purposes of this series, “Scene” with a capital S will refer to the scene in general (which can include in its definition the sequel). I’ll use a small s and italicize scene and sequel to refer to the two different types of Scenes.
Tell me your opinion: Was your protagonist’s latest decision clear from the context, or did you decide to state it outright in the text?
Related Posts: Never Give Your Characters What They Want
How to Use Scene Breaks to Cut the Fat
What Non-Fiction Authors Can Teach Novelists
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).
Tell me your opinion: Was your protagonist’s latest decision clear from the context, or did you decide to state it outright in the text?
Related Posts: Never Give Your Characters What They Want
How to Use Scene Breaks to Cut the Fat
What Non-Fiction Authors Can Teach Novelists
_________________
Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Wordplay podcast in iTunes).
Story by K.M. Weiland
Tags: decision , Feature , goals , scenes , sequels , story structure , structuring your story's scenes , SYN
Always, interesting. I love the examples. Really helps! And helps to know I've instinctively been on the right track.
Writing is a very instinctive process, and our instincts are rarely wrong. Usually, the biggest trick is just interpreting what our gut is telling us.
Prior to realizing ber father is in fact already a zombie, the heroine is unsure of his fate or that of any survivors deeper in the overrun compound. The decision she and her group face is to cut their losses and leave or risk it and push further into the base in the hopes of maybe finding other survivors. There is a moment when she realizes she can't speak for the others but only for herself and states that she must press on in the hopes of finding her father. The others all contemplate and decide verbally to risk it with ber instead of abandoning the story goal.
Perfect expression of a sequel dilemma.
Thanks! I must say at this point that this discussion is so clarifying. I am familiar with structure (favorites are SAVE THE CAT and WRITER'S JOURNEY) and am aware that each scene should be about something, have a beginning, midddle and end, that it should begin on a positive and end on a negative and all of that. BUT the way you are breaking it down here is just remarkable. I have already bookmarked part one of this and am going g to read the whole series. This will be very helpful in rewrites too to tighten weak and aimless scenes. Remarkable!
I know this doesn't answer your question at all, and it's kind of random but I think its a cool thing running around: The Very Inspiring Blogger award.
http://theitinerantd.blogspot.com/2013/02/very-inspiring-bloggers.html
Thanks for the awesome posts!
I'm attempting to make it clear from the context that the girl wants to run awya from her abusive uncle, rather than her directly state "I'm going to run away from my uncle." As I feel that's more realistic. She does however plot itself her head though.
@Phil: This approach to Scene structure comes to you by way of Dwight V. Swain's wonderful Techniques of the Selling Writer. Required reading for every writer.
@Daniel: Thanks so much!
@Sarah: If she's making plans to run away or going over scenarios in her head, her decision will probably be clear enough.
Its more because I have not made it obvious the uncle's abusive, the fact that she's running away might seem out of the blue.
He's suppose to be the antagonist, but I've sort of made him a little to redeeming. (He says thank you when she gives him tea, and appears for now sympathetic about Bianca's backstory.)
By the way, I figured out a way to make character profiles less grinding. Instead of saying, "Family makes 20,000 dollars a year." I instead write a store about how said financial situation directly effects them.
Writing stories - or throwaway scenes - to get to know characters is an awesome exercise. It's one of the best ways to not just get to know a character, but to get under his skin and find out what it will feel like to write him.
I'm trying to figure out scenes are sequels, because it might also be helpful for graphic prose poetry too.:3
If it's told in a story format with anything approaching a Scene format, the scene/sequel dynamic would definitely be helpful.
Decisions, decisions... what´s worst than a character wandering without a goal?
No goal, no conflict, no story!
I'm wondering about the difference between the planning aspect of the dilemma, and the decision, and the goal of the next scene. They are seeming pretty interchangeable to my brain. Thanks!
In practice, they often *are* interchangeable. One can lead right into the other without the reader ever realizing they're three separate things. Also, the fact that an obvious goal often negates the need for an explicit decision (and sometimes vice versa) contributes to the inherency each part of the scene has to the other. It's important for authors to be able to pick apart the differetn pieces, but they don't necessarily have to be obviously distinct within the story.