(The) Writer's Mind: Notes for Writing Reflection 3
Writing "in scene" means writing in such a way that actions and performance carry the weight. Ideally, writing in scene will evoke emotional responses within the addressee without you having to directly "expose" them to the name of the emotion (i.e., exposition). It requires practice to distinguish writing that's "in scene" from writing that's "in exposition." That's what we've been doing all semester: practicing.
Fundamentally, your recent narrative (written in scene) begins with a character BE-ing in action (performing) within a particular event or series of events (within a specific location and time with other participants). A CHALLENGE announces itself, a challenge against which the character's normal way of responding comes up short, and so the character-narrator cannot effectively manage and overcome the challenge, despite the desire and the strength employed to achieve that desire. This results in the EXPERIENCE of failure, which will occur for the addressee without having to be told explicitly. Lastly, also included in the scene is the responses the character-narrator generated in the face of the experience of the failure to be, do, or have what would have been sufficient to the challenge. This response is INDICATIVE of the emerging strength which allowed the character to cope with, or make it through the experience of failure. Answering the questions, "what does the character-narrator desire?" and "what are the obstacles to achieving that desire?" will reveal both the strength and the bite. For instance, if the object of desire is acceptance, the "bite" is what we lose while striving and failing--with the aid of the strength--for acceptance. In some shape or form, the character-narrator RESPONDS to the PRESENCE of the bite, which is what begins to trigger reflections: memories in-scene of past successes/bites, going all the way back to the primary "cause" narratives wherein a failure to be, do, or have results in the emergence of a strength that COMPENSATES for the failure. Being thoughtful might compensate for an experience produced by thoughtlessness. Being helpful might compensate for an experience of being left alone. Being powerful within a structure might compensate for collapsing in the face of the demand to perform without guidance. Being smart might compensate for being stupid. etc. The key insight here is that there is no strength without failure, no success without the bite it inflicts on one's self or others. |