How to Fix a Bad Scene | Novel Writing
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- čas přidán 5. 06. 2024
- I created a flow chart to diagnose bad scenes. The chart will help you to identify the problems with your scenes and provide possible solutions. This is perfect for when you know something is wrong with a scene in your novel but you're not sure exactly what's going wrong or how to fix it.
Download the Flow Chart Here: ellenbrockediting.com/?p=8485
Support me on Patreon: / ellenbrock
Timestamps
01:23 Does the scene move the plot forward?
02:37 Does the reader need to see the scene happen?
04:18 Is there a conflict?
05:44 Is it obvious to the reader that the scene pushes the plot forward?
06:56 Does the character experience an emotional shift?
08:16 Is the scene still not working?
10:57 Does the scene contain vital information?
11:35 Do you like and want to keep the scene?
12:23 Does the part you like require an entire scene?
13:53 Does the information require an entire scene?
15:27 Is it possible to move the information to another scene?
Story Structure Resources:
[websites]:
www.margielawson.com/using-st...
www.helpingwritersbecomeautho...
thefriendlyeditor.com/2013/07...
[Books:]
Story Engineering by Larry Brooks: www.amazon.com/Story-Engineer...
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody: www.amazon.com/Save-Cat-Write...
Writer Types: The Four Types of Novel Writers - Jak na to + styl
Hi guys! I'm excited to be back making videos again. It's been a hard couple of years, but things are (fingers crossed) looking up. My hope is that I will be able to shift my focus onto making videos for you guys as we move into 2022!
I tried something a little different with this video and used notes on a tablet so that I could do the whole thing in one take with minimal cuts. I'm very rusty so I apologize for the loss of camera focus at a few points and any other technological failings.
Let me know if you have any video ideas for the future. I appreciate you all so much!
Whoa, surprise video! Great job, Ellen. I really like how you planned out your shot to have space for your graphics. I don't think you looking at your tablet is distracting because I'm mainly listening to the advice and will rewind as necessary.
glad to have you back, Ellen 😍 as a next video, can you tap into side characters? i was thinking about how to tell if a character should be in the story or not. the obvious way to ask yourself if the plot still works if you remove them, but i was thinking about characters that are kind of there, and you need them in certain scenes but they leave you kind of meh. i hope this makes sense :))
Great new video Ellen! Thanks and excited to see what you’ve got next. 👍
Welcome back. I don’t know what you film with, but there are teleprompter apps that might fit the bill if you like notes or a script in eyeline of your camera
This video came at the perfect time and is so helpful. So glad you're back!
One thing I'm struggling with is the "fun and games" beat of the novel (Act 2 Part 1). There's so much that happens in the beginning and the end, but I'm unsure how to add conflict to this beat that feels significant and moves the plot forward, but that's not as earth shattering as the break into act 2 or the midpoint. Would love your take on this section as I feel like I hear so much more about the beats around it rather than attention on it (same with Act 2 Part 2, really, but "bad guys close in" feels easier on the conflict part).
I'm so excited! I discovered your channel while it was "on a break" and thought sadly you were done making vids, so you have no idea how happy I was to see you back!! Your channel is one of the BEST resources I've found on novel writing, you always explain things sooo well and I always leave your videos feeling like I've truly learned valuable things xx
Thank you so much!
Exactly alot of these novel writing channels are full of people who are wordy or try too hard to come off like literary geniuses and end up with a video that has a lot of words and zero meaning
Timestamps
01:23 Does the scene move the plot forward?
02:37 Does the reader need to see the scene happen?
04:18 Is there a conflict?
05:44 Is it obvious to the reader that the scene pushes the plot forward?
06:56 Does the character experience an emotional shift?
08:16 Is the scene still not working?
10:57 Does the scene contain vital information?
11:35 Do you like and want to keep the scene?
12:23 Does the part you like require an entire scene?
13:53 Does the information require an entire scene?
15:27 Is it possible to move the information to another scene?
Thanks, your vids are helpful. Just you talking is enough.
I just wanted to let you know that I and so many others are happy and thankful to have you back. Your videos helped inspire me to pursue a more serious approach to creative writing that I hope to turn into a full time career in the near future. Out of all of the authortube channels, yours has definitely proven to consistently be one of the most professional, useful and constructive. Again, thank you so much for all of your hard work and dedication.
Wow, thank you!
your advice is genuinely some of the best on the platform, so glad to see you back!
You’re back!!! So glad to see you again. :)
I really am going to have to start subbing in the word "obstacle" for "conflict" because I always get the wrong impression when I read that stories need conflict. Obstacle clicks in my brain way better - it implies the character moving forward or toward a goal but then something impedes them, gets in their way.
So happy to see you are well and ok. I was concerned. Sorry to hear you’ve had a rough couple of years. Wishing you all the best! Everyone is right, your content is awesome!💜💜
Thank you so much!
This is why we're subbed to you, lol!
A lot of CZcamsrs start with "sorry I haven't posted in a while," but in this case I have actually been waiting and looking forward to it. Great to see something new, Ellen! Thank you!
It always feels like miracle when you come back
YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY AND GRATEFUL I AM YOU'VE POSTED AGAIN! WELCOME BACK! YOU'RE ONE OF THE VERY BEST WRITING CHANNELS ON CZcams!!! 👑💛🤗
me too! 😆
Oh my gosh, you're back. I missed you. ❤️
This notification popped up while I was working on my phone and I was so happy to see it! I was thinking how much I’ve missed your videos just the other day.☀️📚❤️☕️
The Return of the Queen! Welcome back :D
*That was **_awesome!_*
I just polished my outline using these ideas. I moved several scenes slightly forward or backwards - to the previous or next chapter, and then deleted a bunch of useless scenes.
I cut a total of 2 full chapters worth of unnecessary scenes, which improved the pacing a lot.
I'm left now with a logical, but minimalist, outline that flows through my story quickly.
I also decided to add one more constraint to my outline, which is:
*All chapter endings need to feel tense to the reader.*
That means if the current chapter answers or resolves something that the reader was worried about from the previous chapter, then it has to generate new tension to replace it. Or, alternatively, the chapter has to end with a strong reminder of a previous point of tension that is as-yet unresolved in the story.
This principle of "end-each chapter-with-tension" is often achieved by me just moving a scene into the next chapter. Problems have to get disconnected from their resolutions to keep the reader turning those pages.
My chapter endings are things like: leaps into the unknown, trying a desperate escape method, or, at least something like receiving an ominous warning note.
Ellen, I was genuinely worried, because of the radio silence. Take care, we love your videos.
Welcome back! Missed your videos
Oh my gosh! You're back! Yay!
Ah! You found it! "Is it obvious to the reader?" That is going to revolutionize my writing thank you!! I love Easter egg scenes that will pay off later, but it will be incredibly beneficial for me to remember to add something to those scenes that the reader can latch on to more immediately. Not to mention it will hide those moments even better until I'm ready to reveal them. Thank you!!!
Aaah! I love to see you back! The best booktuber!
Ellen, we missed you so much !.. Whatever Ticket of Distress this Life Rollercoaster has shoved into your hand you have eloquently Desinbarked at the end of this Ride a little more ready for the next ticket to be handed to you..(there's always a next one) You rode it out Well, Why? "Because" your Ellen Brock Pro Editor Extraordinaire.'.LOVED, By all of us Wannabe Rehashers of Story, Lost Keyboard Bards Welcome Back Ellen!
Been here since the start and imo you're still one of the best among all of the youtubers in the writing community
Ellen, I never comment on CZcams. Just wanted to say I'm glad to see another of your videos. I don't want to say "welcome back" because you should go at your own pace. You don't have to be "back". Thanks for the new video!
Thank you very much!
Great advice regarding what is actually a conflict and what isn't! Gave me a sort of a-ha moment with my novel in progress.
That made me sit up and take notice. That was clarification I didn’t even know that I needed.
Hello, I had your video recommended in my home and I, of course, had to click. Then I realised this is your first upload in a year. I just want to say thank you to all authortubes in this platform who make information as accessible as possible. As someone who doesn't have enough money to go to workshops and live in a country with poor literary culture, videos like yours could be the only one that we can count of. Welcome back!
I am so glad you're back. Your advice is great, your intuition is clear, and you are articulate and intelligent. Inexpressibly good content.
Wow, thank you!
@@EllenBrock I mean it! Glad you saw it, too. 👌🏼
🤦♀I literally have a scene in a library that can be scrapped off. Thanks Ellen!
Ellen is baaaaaaaaack!!!! 🙌
So glad to see you back!
Ellen! It's been so long! I'm happy to see that you're back. I'll be revisiting your videos as I am about half done with my first book and in the time that you've been gone it seems like I haven't found an editor's channel here that has been quite as good as you in both content and presentation.
Welcome back to CZcams 🥰
While it's not an editing channel per se, I highly recommend the channel Writing for Screens (Glenn Gers). He has a lot of practical and insightful wisdom (like Ellen) without unnecessary fluff or rambling you get on some of the other channels. It's coming from a more 'screenwriting' perspective, but his tools, process and essentials videos all broadly apply to any kind of dramatic or creative writing.
@@Ruylopez778 I actually used to listen to a lot of lessons from the screenplay and I’ve read save the cat (and Ellen has it linked in her video description here). Thank you for the suggestion since screenwriting is a very good way for people to learn good structure (and at times may be worth me revisiting since I think there’s a few sections where I need to answer “does the reader need to see this scene”)
@@arsenicbug1537 No worries. I think Ellen is also a fan of Story Grid (although that is most useful in the revision phase, than writing phase).
I also enjoy LFTS, but what I like about Glen's videos is he is approaching it more from the 'creating' side, where LFTS and so on, are more like an analysis of what already works. Both have their uses.
Glen's "6 questions" are about focusing on individual scenes and what the purpose is of each one.
If there's a specific aspect you're thinking about e.g. pacing, hooks etc 'Writing Excuses' has a massive archive of podcasts you can search also.
OMG, ELLEN. I WAS JUST THINKING OF YOU!!! SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK!
It's like I found a long lost cousin, Ellen's BACK.
Your diagrams work, very well. Ideas are coming access incredibly coherently. Thank you Ellen.
It's been a year!! Wellcome Back!!
I have just started writing short stories for kicks (maybe a novel in the medium future) and this is exactly what I needed. Ellen's blog is a gold mine of knowledge for writers.
I have screen-captured the flow chart because it is so helpful. Thank you!
Great to have you back!
Yay, welcome back!!!
Glad you're back!!!
Welcome back!!!
Awesome that you are back!!!!!!!!
glad to see a new video
Awesome to see you back.
Glad to see you back!
Yay! So glad you’re back!
glad you are back :3
Welcome back!!
Glad you're back!
you're back!!! yay
Always great to see a new video from you!
So happy you're back!
Love your channel! So happy you are back!
So good to have you back
so glad you're back!
Thanks for coming back
So excited you're back!!!
You're back! 🥳
So glad to see you back!!
Yay, you're back!
Yay, welcome back
Great specific info. In the moment it’s difficult to ask these questions so to have a chart is awesome
Welcome back!
Yeah! You're back!
Yaaay, Ellen is back! We missed you🙂
YAY!! You’re back! 😁
nice to see you back. thanks
THE QUEEN HAS RETURNED
Thrilled to see you back!
So glad you're back!
love you! Glad you're back!!!
So nice to have you back.
I was worried! Glad you're back!
Omg you're back, yay!☺
You're back! Glad to see it :)
Wonderful to see you back here Ellen!
Yay!
You posted again ❤❤
This is AMAZING! Thank you :)
Glad you’re back! Love your videos!
You're back yay!!
Wow! It's so awesome to see you back!🙏❤️
So helpful! Thank you.
Good to see you back Ellen. :)
always love your videos! Thanks for making it!
SHE'S BACK!!! AWESOME!!
Oh my god! I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw that you had uploaded again. Welcome back!
Been a subscriber since you released your video on mistakes amateur writer makes. I’m so happy you’ve returned to grace us with your wisdom again.
so nice seeing you again
Glad to see you back! Thanks for all the advice over the year.
So glad you're back! Love your content!
Great you're back. Thanks for all your videos.
You're back!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Nice to see you again Ellen! Thanks for more great advice!
so glad you’re back!!
Welcome back! ❤️
Yay you’re back! This info is coming in clutch rn!!
You're back 😁😁
As always, your video was super helpful.
Oh you are back :D welcome back!
She's back!
YOU"RE BACK! Woo
Thank you, Ellen! Great video.