Why a Book About Scenes?
Planning, Drafting, Perfecting
What is a Great Scene, Anyway?
PART I: Planning
CHAPTER 1: What Do They Want And Why?
What's It All About?
EXERCISE: Overarching Goal
One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor
Kinds of Scene Goals
Objects
Words from Others
Getting Somewhere
Completing A Task
Qualities of Scene Goals
Relatability
Specificity
Achievability
EXERCISE: And. Scene.
CHAPTER 2: Why Can't They Have It?
The Universe Is Out To Get You
You Can't Share A Parking Space
But I Thought We Were Friends
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
Things In Absentia
It's Not You, It's Me
EXERCISE: Exploring the Possibilities
The Just Right Obstacle
Resonance with World and Tone
Resonance with Theme
EXERCISE: What Story Does This Obstacle Tell?
Time Isn't On Your Side
EXERCISE: Limit the Resources, And Pick
CHAPTER 3: What Are They Gonna Do About It?
Don't Just Stand There, Do Something!
You Talkin' To Me? (Characters versus Others)
You Can't Argue With a River (Characters versus Things)
I'm My Own Worst Enemy (Character versus Self)
Getting By With A Little Help With My Friends
EXERCISE: Exploring Approaches
It's Only a Mistake if You Don't Learn From It
Themes Like a Good Idea
EXERCISE: So THAT Didn't Work...
Where're You Going With This?
EXERCISE: So How Does Your Scene End?
Not All Actions Are Created Equal
Cooking Up Stakes
It Takes Two To Tango
Matching World and Tone
EXERCISE: One Full Approach
CHAPTER 4: Where And When Is It Gonna Happen?
Changing Settings Does Not Necessarily Mean Changing Scenes
It's About Freakin' Time
EXERCISE: Identify Your Moment in Time
Location, Location, Location!
EXERCISE: Zooming in on the Precise Location
Research and Destroy
EXERCISE: Research and Character Preoccupations
PART II: Drafting
Chapter 5: The Fundamental Tools of Scenewriting
Show 'Em What You Got
Pacing
EXERCISE: Basic Practice With Scene Description
EXERCISE: Basic Practice With Dialogue
Chapter 6: The Art of Reader Engagement
Make 'Em Work For It
EXERCISE: Mapping out a Treasure Hunt
Nobody Expects The Spanish Inquisition!
Shock
EXERCISE: Leverage The Unusual In Your Scene
Make 'Em Wait
EXERCISE: Setting Up Anticipation
Feast Your Eyes On This!
EXERCISE: Add a Little Wonder
Chapter 7: The Unformatted Draft
Let's Get This Party Started
When and Where
Knock Knock...
Better Late Than Boring
EXERCISE: Writing the Beginning
Scenis Morghulis: All Scenes Must End
Reveals
The Natural Ending
The Cyclical Ending
The Reversal Ending
The Unexplained Mystery Ending
Inviting The Reader Into The Next Scene
We're Closing Early
EXERCISE: Writing the End
In the Middle With You
One Thing Leads To Another (But and Therefore)
What's at Stake
EXERCISE: Filling Out The Middle
Chapter 8: Formatting for Fun and Profit
Courier? I Don't Even Know Her!
A Minute Per Page
EXERCISE: Pick Your Software and Import Your Unformatted Draft
A Slugline Says What?
EXERCISE: Writing Sluglines
You Lookin' at Me?
CALLOUTS
Transition Callouts
EXERCISE: Format That Scene Description
You Got Something to Say?
Wrylies
Pauses and Interruptions
MORE and CONT'D
Trailing Off, Interrupting, and Talking Over
Other Ways Characters Can Talk: O.S. and V.O.
EXERCISE: Format Your Dialogue
PART III: Perfecting
CHAPTER 9: Check Your Length
The Bare Necessities
EXERCISE: Throwin' Strikeouts
Whoa, I Think I Missed Something
EXERCISE: Did You Throw Out The Baby With The Bathwater?
Chapter 10: Managing Scene Information In Dialogue
As You Know, I'm Your Son
I'm So Conflicted
Do You Know Why I Pulled You Over?
Thank You, Captain Obvious
EXERCISE: Un-obviousing Your Exposition
Yeah, You Already Said That
Here We Are In Prison
That's My Name, Don't Wear It Out
EXERCISE: Removing Redundant Exposition
Chapter 11: Bringing Authenticity Into Your Dialogue
Keepin' It Real
I'm Listening
Speaking of Questions...
EXERCISE: Going Off-Topic and Ignoring
Read Between The Lines
Using Subtext To Avoid Hurt Feelings
Off-Topic Subtext
Using Subtext To Communicate Emotions
EXERCISE: What I Mean Is...
You Sound Just Like My Mom
EXERCISE: Finding Your Voice
The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
EXERCISE: Music in Dialogue
Chapter 12: Final Polish
Once More With Feeling
Scene POV
Spotlight It
Writer's Commentary
Poetic Impression
EXERCISE: Write In The Feels
Smooth It Out
Eschew Impenetrability
Avoid Ambiguity
SProoffrreading Are Important
EXERCISE: Line By Line, For Clarity
Last Looks
White Space For The Win
Compressing
EXERCISE: Expand And Compress
Okay, Now What?
Bonus Chapter: Expanding Your Development Circle
Not All Readers Are Created Equal
EXERCISE: Build Your Reading Roster
Readings Are Fundamental
First-Time Readers
Slings And Arrows
Prepping Questions
Receiving Critique
EXERCISE: Preparing For A Reading
Found In Translation
Collecting
Waiting
Translating
Revising
EXERCISE: Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Appendix A: References
Appendix B: Course Adoption Guide
A Scenewriting-Only Course
Custom Modular Adoption
Example Adoption Into a Pilot- or Feature-writing Course
Example Adoption Into a Short Film Writing Course
Acknowledgements
Index
