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Every story we write or read has a narrative arc, usually consisting of a three act structure:

  • Act I   – the beginning (set up),
  • Act II  - the middle (confrontation),
  • Act III – the end (resolution). 

Each act also has a narrative arc, meaning that Act I (the beginning) consists of a beginning, middle and end, as does Act II and Act III. The building blocks that carry us through these narratives are scenes, and yes, even scenes have narrative arcs – those that don’t are not often a complete scene.

The two levels of scene structure can be identified as large scale and small scale.

The large scale structure identifies two types of scene that are co-dependent:
  1. The action scene that consists of sub-components goal, conflict and disaster,
  2. The reaction scene/sequel that consists of sub-components reaction, dilemma and decision.

For example, in a scene in ‘Finding Nemo’, Marlin makes a decision to go over the ridge to continue his and Dory’s quest to find Nemo:
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Action scene…
  • goal – to get to the other side of the ridge,
  • conflict – they encounter stinging jellyfish,
  • disaster – Marlin makes it to the other side but Dory doesn’t. (See the cliffhanger here to move the story forward?)
Reaction scene…
  • reaction – Marlin at first celebrates getting to the other side but then panics when he can’t see Dory.
  • dilemma – there are more jelly fish – should he rescue Dory and risk his own life?
  • decision – he decides to rescue Dory. (And see here how it pushes us to the next action scene, where the goal will be for Marlin to rescue Dory?)
The novel I am currently writing, Of Figs and Bougainvillea, is written in this way; the framework keeps the story moving and enables me to look at a scene that is not working and see if I have missed out one of the crucial building blocks.
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The small scale structure identifies two parts to a scene’s sub-component, called Motivational Reaction Units (MRU’s):
  1. Motivation. This is objective and external. It describes what all of us can see of the scene sub-component. For example, in goal (above), what the ridge looks like to all of us, how far it is, why it is the best option.
  2. Reaction. The is subjective and internal. It describes the character’s point of view. Continuing the example above, what Marlin feels about crossing the ridge, his reaction to the motivation, in this case, that it it looks clear and easy to cross.

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This isn’t to say that a story needs to be outlined at scene level. These large scale structure and small scale structure guidelines may come in useful when trying to salvage a scene or chapter that isn’t quite working for either yourself, your beta or an editor. On the other hand, if you are a meticulous planner, you may well want to work within this framework.
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What do you think about scene structure? Have you used it? Would you use it? Would you find it too restrictive or do you think it would free those ideas that you have for a novel?  Do you use a different framework?
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