Here are eight keys to writing a scene that pops off the page and grabs the reader.
Writing a scene—especially the big ones at major plot points—usually means adding these eight key principles that move the story forward and keep the reader engaged.
In order to illustrate these eight key principles we’ll be using the scene in Sideways in which Miles and Jack share a drink with Maya at the bar for the first time and Miles says they’re just going back to crash.
We chose this scene to study as it’s fairly dialogue-heavy and doesn’t rely on a heap of action or drama but still demonstrates all eight principles very well.
Re-read the scene from the screenplay, or re-watch it, so you get a better idea of the eight dramatic principles as described. So let’s get started.
Writing a scene key principle #1:
reveal one new piece of key info.
When you’re writing a scene, remember it should only reveal ONE new piece of critical information.
Your scene can reveal several nuances about character or theme of course, but there should be only one overall critical piece of info—the one piece you want the audience to come away with from the scene.
This information is the overall point of the scene—the line that you write in your step outline to describe what happens in it—and everything should revolve around this revelation.
In an outline for Sideways, you might write this particular scene like this: “Later, they meet Maya again at the bar. After some small talk, she asks Miles what they’re up to tonight but he blows it by saying they need to crash.”
The one piece of key information that the screenplay scene demonstrates is that Miles is far from ready to make any kind of move on Maya. Or any woman for that matter.
Writing a scene key principle #2:
give the scene just one goal.
When writing a scene, it should include a goal that relates to the overall objective of the protagonist.
Here, Miles’ scene goal is to remain friendly but not get too close to Maya. He does ask if she wants to come over and join them for a drink, but this is done out of politeness more than anything, and from then on in he lets Jack take over the talking.
Miles’ scene goal relates to his overall goal in that his overall goal is to also remain aloof from female contact. Over the course of the trip he just wants to play golf, relax and drink wine. He has no intention of flirting with Maya.
Writing a scene key principle #3:
give the scene a 3-act structure.
Like the overall movie itself, writing a scene means giving it a 3-Act structure.
It should include a set up, complication, and resolution. This is particularly true of the most important scenes in the story, i.e. the call to action, big event, midpoint etc.
This scene in Sideways adheres to a classic structure as it represents an Act Break. Here are the major beats of the scene:
• Set Up. Miles and Jack are having a drink at the bar.
• Call to Action. Maya enters and Miles calls her over.
• Act 1 Turning Point. Maya asks Jack if he’s an actor and they begin flirting.
• Midpoint. Maya asks them what they’re up to tonight, and Miles says they’re probably going to go “crash.”
• Climax. Maya leaves.
• Denouement. Walking home, Jack berates Miles for screwing it up.
Note how closely this scene structure mirrors conventional 3-Act structure. All it’s missing is the Act 2 turning point as—like in all good scenes—it’s best to get out as quickly as possible once the point of the scene’s been made after the midpoint.
Writing a scene key principle #4:
not every scene needs conflict, but it does need stakes.
It should be a given that each scene should include some sort of conflict and/or stakes.
In the Sideways example, Miles is the protagonist and Jack is the antagonist. Miles’ scene goal is to just be polite and make small talk with Maya. Jack’s scene goal is to ratchet things up a notch by engaging Maya in some flirtatious conversation.
Note how both of their goals relate to the overall scene goal. The clash of these two goals gives the scene its conflict as we see both Miles and Jack reacting to the other’s tactics.
However, don’t fall into the trap of listening to all those so-called screenwriting gurus who say “every scene must contain conflict.” The idea that every scene in a screenplay should be thought of as a battle between a protagonist who wants something and antagonist who wants the opposite, is just false.
When writing a scene it’s better to think of it in terms of what you want to reveal to the audience, rather than as a head-on clash between two or more characters. Here’s a helpful post on how to write a scene that discusses this in more detail.
Writing a scene key principle #5:
include some kind of visual action.
When writing a scene, remember to include some sort of visual action. Scenes are combinations of action and dialogue, and finding the right balance between these two elements is essential to creating a successful scene.
In the Sideways scene, we start with Miles and Jack at the bar. It’s static. But then Maya arrives—an action—and then joins them—an action—and leaves—another action.
The scene could have opened and closed with all three of them sitting at the bar, but adding Maya’s entrance, then joining Miles and Jack at the bar, then the shot of them walking home, gives this dialogue-heavy scene some needed visuals.
How to write a scene principle #6:
give a character one true choice to make.
Each screenplay scene should include one true choice, by which we mean a moral choice between two goods, or between two evils.
Dustin Hoffman has commented he will only make a film if his character has at least 40 choice points. A scene can contain many small choices but, like with the revealing of information in Principle #1, it must contain one critical choice that propels the story forward. This usually happens at the climax of the scene.
In this case, the major choice Miles makes is, of course, when he says they’re going to just go back to the hotel and crash. This decision comes at the climax to the scene and is also the major decision he makes near the end of Act 1, propelling Jack in the next scene to declare he’s not going to let Miles’ “neg-head downer shit” stop him from getting laid.
Writing a scene principle #7: make sure there’s a reversal of values.
Writing a scene means including some sort of change, or reversal of values. In other words, if a scene starts on a positive charge it should end on a negative charge and vice versa. By the end of the scene, the protagonist must have an understanding of this change.
So, in our example, the scene starts on a positive charge when Miles calls Maya over to join them at the bar. Note how Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor make it Miles and not Jack who calls her over.
This is because if Miles does it, it’s an even more positive charge than if Jack did it. i.e. we’re thinking that maybe Miles is not so uptight after all.
The scene ends on a negative charge when Miles destroys the chance to hang out that night with Maya, and he is made fully aware of this change—and mistake—by Jack’s remonstrations.
How to write a scene principle #8:
advance the story, characters and theme.
Ideally, each scene in your screenplay should advance the plot, character, and theme of the overall story.
In this scene, the plot is advanced by Jack planting the lie that they’re celebrating the publication of Miles’ book—a lie that will have serious repercussions later. We also now know Maya is single and available.
Miles and Jack’s characters are both advanced because we get a better idea of their mindsets: Miles wants to stay aloof, Jack wants to party and is ready to lie, making his friend appear to be a success.
We learn through exposition that Jack’s acting career is not going too well and he is now relying primarily on voiceover work.
The theme of the film is that emotional maturity is necessary for a truly happy relationship. Maya represents emotional maturity, but the flip side of this—emotional immaturity—is expressed by both Miles and Jack.
All three characters display these traits in this scene.
Maya is emotionally mature and is ready to meet someone new—someone like Miles. Miles, however, shows his emotional immaturity by not being able to move past small talk with Maya.
Jack, meanwhile, displays his emotional immaturity by lying to Maya about Miles’ book and by flirting with her when he’s engaged.
Conclusion.
Rather than using this checklist as a starting point before writing a scene, we recommend you write the scene first and then refer back to the list in order to tighten it up.
Use this eight-point checklist once you have a draft of the scene and then go back in order to make sure the scene protagonist makes a true choice, there’s a reversal of values and something at stake, etc.
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Do you have any screenplay scene principles you think we’ve missed? How do you go about writing a scene? Let us know in the comments section below.
Liked this post? Read more on how to write a scene…
Writing a Scene: The Epic Technique Most Aspiring Writers Don’t Use
8 Out of 10 Writers Have Been Told How to Write a Scene the Wrong Way
How to Write a Screenplay: The Secret to Elevating It Above the Ordinary
[© Photo credits: Unsplash]
