I’m about to spill one of my worst kept writing secrets, by which I mean that I’m going to talk about why I include a lot of the kinds of scenes that legendary agent and author Donald Maass, whose many books about writing I usually agree with in their entirety, says to leave out of a novel. What kind of scenes are those? The ones that take place in kitchens, living rooms, and cars driving back and forth. Let’s call them the everyday scenes.
Now it’s true that these scenes are the ones that usually are left out of successful novels–especially young adult novels. Why? Because they tend to be low-tension scenes. Scenes where people are sitting around talking and not much is happening.
But low action doesn’t have to mean low tension. Novels aren’t necessarily about action; they’re about conflict. And conflict can occur anywhere. That’s what a lot of writers overlook, and it can result in low-tension (aka boring) action scenes as well as scenes that end up being just two characters talking.
There are many valid reasons to have those everyday scenes, though. Which means it’s a good thing there are easy ways to beef them up so they engage instead of disengage your reader.
Opportunities for conflict come from the past and the future as well as the present.
Everyday scenes tend to be about family, something which is absent in a lot of young adult novels today, and even in many popular novels. Family is important to me, though, and the Heirs of Watson Island series is an exploration of what it means to be a family, not just in the nuclear sense but in the sense of being connected to a place and a group of people and the larger family of humanity. Because the magical gifts and the curse have created problems for three hundred years in each of the families involved, there are multiple generations in the series, each with their own secrets, mysteries, and conflicts. The house in which those characters were raised is also a main character in the novel, and so many scenes take place in the rooms where families live, including kitchens and living rooms. These places are the heart of families, and they can add heart to a book.
The key to making everyday scenes, or really any scenes, interesting is to use the past and the future, as well as the present, to make sure the scenes contain enough dramatic tension.
There are five quick ways to add tension to a scene:
Add action in progress in the present. An action scene rarely lacks tension because we’re watching what’s going on and wondering whether the character will fail or succeed. Giving an everyday scene a small action to focus around will not only add tension but also help you ground the setting. It creates anchors for internal thoughts and clues to background for the characters and the story. Action can be any task, really. Cooking a meal–will be be successful or unsuccessful? Will someone cut themselves as they react something in their environment? Even something as simple as trying to make a phone call is a task that has the possibility of failure. Examine your scene for something the characters can be doing and build in the uncertainty about outcome.
Add tension between characters that stems from the past, the present, or the future. Characters should always have a goal in a scene. This goes as much for other characters as for your main character. This doesn’t have to be stated aloud, but the author must certainly know what the character want. And here’s two quick tricks. Make sure the characters don’t want the same thing. Make sure that they can’t all win. Tension exists when someone wins and someone loses or compromises. Your main character should rarely succeed completely, therefore, every encounter must cost her something. She must give up something in each scene.
THIS WEEK’S GIVEAWAY
City of Heavenly Fire
by Cassandra Clare
Hardcover
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Released 5/27/2014
Shadowhunters and demons square off for the final showdown in the spellbinding, seductive conclusion to the #1 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.
Darkness has descended on the Shadowhunter world. Chaos and destruction overwhelm the Nephilim as Clary, Jace, Simon, and their friends band together to fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in this world can defeat Sebastian—but if they journey to the realm of demons, they just might have a chance…
Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world will change. Who will survive the explosive sixth and final installment of the Mortal Instruments series?
Purchase City of Heavenly Fire at Amazon
Purchase City of Heavenly Fire at IndieBound
View City of Heavenly Fire on Goodreads
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What kind of scenes are your favorites to write or read? Do you like action? Drama between characters? Scenes that have a surprise or revelation? Scenes that put you on the edge of your seat with anticipation? Scenes that scare you? Scenes that twist what you thought you knew? Leave a comment!
