Creative writing - Mike Sanders 2014

Scene and summary
The lifelike short story
Short-form genres

Speaking of enjoying the ride, it’s always nice to have some scenery and extra information along the way. However, one of the worst mistakes new writers make, unaccustomed to their craft as they are, is oversummarizing. It’s not necessarily the summary that’s bad, per se. Some new writers do a very good job summarizing. The problem is that they summarize when they should be writing scenes.

It’s the scene that makes your story live and affords it verisimilitude. Summaries are what make short stories what they are. The difference, quite simply, is in their lengths.

When you write a summary, you tell the reader what’s before them isn’t important enough to slow down and stop on. You’re saying to a scrutinizing eye that you don’t know how to take your time when you write. And why would you know? No one has told you.

A scene takes place not when the reader is told what’s happening or what a character thinks or is like, but when a reader is allowed to experience it. Scenes take your writing from storytelling to reality in the reader’s imagination.

When you write a summary, the reader misses certain key attributes that bring the characters to life. You don’t get the interaction between character and surroundings, other characters, and events. The reader misses the senses—the scents, colors, tastes, and sounds of action. The reader also misses out on how the character behaves and reacts. Instead of a 3-D, in-depth being, the reader gets a flat, imageless cutout.

How, then, do you write a scene? First, you must understand what a scene is. Quite simply, a scene is where the action occurs.

DEFINITION

A scene is a clearly marked snapshot of a situation that involves one or more characters.

To write a scene (and not a summary), you must capture the nuances of action in your characters and surroundings. You want to draw it out, making use of the five senses.

This might sound simple, but it takes time and imagination—and it’ll take a lot of practice to get used to. However, writing scenes well will make you a very good writer. To involve the reader, to allow the reader to experience a story, is something only an experienced writer can do even half-well.