Outline scenes


Since writing in scenes isn’t second nature to me, I often fill in this type information before I start a scene:

  • Basics
    • Setting:
    • Who is present:
    • What is happening (actions):
  • Emotion
    • Emotional Pulse running through the scene:
    • Emotion at Beginning:
    • Emotion at End:
  • Plot
    • Plot Goal:
    • Plot Complication:
    • Plot Complication:
    • Plot Complication:
    • Disaster at end of scene:
  • What gets reviewed in between scenes (What Swain & Bickham call the sequel part).
  • Goal of next scene:

Often, I get only halfway through this before I abandon it and start writing. That’s fine. It’s just to get the scene firmly in my mind, not necessarily fill out the entire form.