FASHIONING A SCENE

No matter the genre, the secret for fashioning fiction that works is to make sure that in each and every scene, the driving character has a clearly stated goal. Your protagonist must express to the reader exactly what he wants to accomplish. Don't expect the reader -- the most important person to your story's success -- to read between the lines. There is no being vague about this.

The reader may or may not want your protagonist to accomplish his goal. He may even want him to fail, as in The Pickled Dog Caper when Makepeace runs across two old friends and they decide to engage in some skullduggery. In that scene, the reader actually hopes Makepeace will fail so that he will return to his path of improvement.

To have a scene, your driving character must have a goal or a purpose in mind, and you need conflict. Your driving character must face and overcome obstacles or a negative force. For the scene to be effective, you must let the reader in on what the point of view character is thinking. And, as you fashion each scene, you must strive for economy of words so that you keep the reader's attention scene after scene.

More Articles

 On Writing

Fashioning a Scene

Conflict

The Character's Mind

Self-Editing

Roger's Short Stories

Making Waves

Roger Paulding is the author of The Pickled Dog Caper and numerous short stories.

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