[Blog] Only Training Can Show You How to Create a Scene

By: Dave Goetz

I don’t think you can really learn to write. Which is why few fine art programs in writing turn out prolific writers.

Mostly, you need to be trained to write.

You train yourself when you write and then rewrite. And then rewrite again and again and again.

Your readers train you when they read your manuscript and their brow furrows with confusion. Their response trains you. Then you make changes.

You get trained when a professional editor redlines your writing.

You gasp when you see the editor's redlines for the first time: “No way, the page is blood red with changes! My writing is way better than that!”

No, it's not.

I love the distinction between training and learning. I stole this idea from one of our coaching clients, a young writer who is former college baseball player and now a blogger and podcaster.

In one of his writing projects, he used the analogy of baseball training as it related to the curriculum of a graduate program in journalism. He felt he needed more training than learning.

Training is specific feedback, say, on how to grip a baseball when throwing a three-seam fastball.

It’s less encompassing than learning in some ways. And yet more specific. It involves feedback. From a coach or professional - or even one of your readers.

The Scene Problem

Melissa, Allison, and I review a lot of manuscripts. And every manuscript has the exact same problem.

There are few, if any, scenes in the book. Yes, scenes. Or, rather - no scenes.

The writing is all telling: "I took trip last fall to Yellowstone National Park to fly fish with my buddy. We fished for three straight days on the Yellowstone River and caught a lot of trout. We ate well, and we thought last year's trip was one of the best we've ever had."

Yuk. I didn't show you my trip. I merely told you about my trip.

Yet, a "scene" is the essence of a story.

If you are writing a memoir or fiction, you should have at least a hundred scenes or more in your book.

And if you are a nonfiction writer who doesn't use scenes, you are merely writing a boring manual. Not a book.

The fewer scenes you have, the fewer readers you will have.

The only way to learn how to write a scene is through training.

Back to the Fundamentals

A scene has at least four components, what we've called A.C.T.S. I stole this acronym from my closest friend, who has a Ph.D. in linguistics.

1. Action. Unless your scene has action, it's not a scene. Something needs to happen. Movement.

2. Characters. There must be characters who are behaving badly or wonderfully in your scenes. Your scene just can't be you thinking about something.

3. Talking. "Talking" is another word for dialogue. Most scenes need at least some dialogue. Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. Or even between a human and a dog, if the human likes to talk to her dog when no one is around.

4. Setting. Setting paints a scene in the mind of the reader. Was the sky blue or blood red? Was it early morning or dusk. Was the toddler wearing a overalls with red and white stripes?

Back to My Fly Fishing Trip

So, here is the example of a simple scene from one of my fly fishing trips:

***

The bison lounged like milk cows in the middle of the trail as it wound its way back to the trailhead.

Steve and I had our heads down, bent on making it back to the trailhead before dark. We had fished all day and already hiked about six miles as we slung streamers and cast dry flies into the Yellowstone. My only thoughts had been about a large cheeseburger with french fries and a cold beer, which were still about two hours away.

"They'll get up and move off up the ridge," I said. "Let's just keep moving up the trail."

At this point, the bison were about 75 yards up ahead, and the sun was already behind the ridge; darkness was falling. We kept walking toward the beasts. We acted as if the trail was empty ahead of us and headed straight for the herd.

Sure enough. One by one the bison stood up and sauntered off the trail and moved into the dark timber.

Except for one, a large bull with an almost black mane and curled black-and-tan horns.

The ancient creature lay in the middle of the trail until we got within 50 yards. Then it stood up.

The bison switched his tail and started walking towards us.

I almost walked into the back of Steve, because he stopped so quickly when he saw the bull take its first few steps towards us.

"What should we do?" he said.

I didn't say anything at first. I looked to our right. About ten yards away, the Yellowstone River raged through boulders the size of recliners and small cars. There was no way we would survive if we jumped into the Yellowstone. I looked to the left, and there was only the ridge, and it was too steep to climb quickly. There was no time to turn around and run in the opposite direction.

And the bull kept up its slow walk to us, swinging its monstrous head. At least it didn't appear angry.

Steve started move to the edge of the Yellowstone River, as if he could defy the 100% odds that he would drown if he tried to cross the river.

***

Are You Writing Scenes?

That, above, is a scene. Not a perfect scene.

It won't win any prizes; it still needs some work.

But it's a scene, ready for editing.

Does your memoir have a hundred of these? Does your novel?

Does your nonfiction book open each chapter and close each chapter with a scene?

If not, ChatGPT (AI) could write your book.