The Anatomy of Story (60 page)

SCENES ARE WHERE
the action is-literally. Using description and dialogue, you translate all the elements of premise, structure, character, moral argument, story world, symbol, plot, and scene weave into the story the audience actually experiences. This is where you make the story come alive.

A scene is defined as one action in one time and place. But what is a scene made of? How does it work?

A scene is a ministory. This means that a good scene has six of the seven structure steps: the exception is self-revelation, which is reserved for the hero near the end of the story. The self-revelation step within a scene is usually replaced by some twist, surprise, or reveal.

CONSTRUCTING THE SCENE

To construct any scene, you must always achieve two objectives:

■ D
etermine how it fits into and furthers the overall development of

the hero. ■ Make it a good ministory.

These two requirements determine everything, and the are of the hero's overall development always comes first.

KEY POINT: Think of a scene as an upside-down triangle.

The beginning of the scene should frame what the whole scene is about. The scene should then funnel down to a single point, with the most important word or line of dialogue stated last: