Write a short scene. This can be any scene you observe, on a bus, at the kitchen table, at the grocery store, etc.
Include: setting, dialogue, action, sensory details, descriptive
language, specific concrete details. Don’t worry about context of the
story this scene may be in, this exercise is only for developing your
observation skills.
Please review these elements of scene. When you are writing your
stories always check to make sure you have most of these elements in
your scenes.
Scene
Scene can bring writing to life. It can put a visual in the reader’s
head, therefore bringing the reader closer to the experience being
written about. It’s important to be able to recognize what is and what
is not a scene.
“The accused was anxious and talking to his girlfriend when the
lawyers came back in the room. When his lawyer sat down next to him he
asked him if he got the deal done.”
“Richard crossed one leg over the other, “These chairs are
ridiculous,” he said to the woman seated behind him. He arched his back
while still seated in that chair, his foot slip out. “Damn it!” he
yelled loud enough for everyone in the large courtroom to hear. Saving
the fall, he clutched the armrests, readjusted his body, and pulled
himself closer to the table, which had nothing on it but a blank legal
pad and a pen. Picking up the pen, he tapped it on his lip, then let it
slip into his mouth. His jaw’s tiny, tight movements working on the
plastic, suddenly stopped when the side door in the room opened and his
attorney, taking large strides, headed toward him.
Before his lawyer could sit down in the chair next to him, Richard spit out, “Is it done?”
Setting – helps the reader understand the space and time that the story takes place.
Dialogue – Along with conveying information, dialogue can clue the reader in on that person’s personality.
Details – the more unique and specific the better. Sensory, concrete descriptive.
Imagery – let the reader “see.”
Action – something must be happening. Don’t forget character movement, large and small.