The power of a story is in the intensity of its scenes. Each scene should be a complete experience unto itself, something readers can immerse themselves into.
In a powerful scene, readers can surrender themselves to the story. They can let the situation take care of them. But this requires not a dry description of events, but an unexpected revelation of feelings and illuminations of ideas and understanding.
To write an intense scene, write it as an evocation of what an environment feels like to character, what a character feels in reaction to events.
To do this, feel your way into a story, into a scene, into a moment in a scene.
Many writers enter a scene from their head, a conceptualizing of details, what's going to happen next.
It's a map of a journey, an outline, if you will, but not the journey itself.
For many, once they start down this path of understanding their story by conceptualizing where it's going next, they can't stop drawing that map.
To live in and experience a situation is different from outlining a situation with details.
Let your reader live in the unexpected moments of a scene.
Write a scene from a character's point of view as if it will be the last of their life.
Immerse your reader in that moment.
If you want to see an example of a story that heightens the effect of its moments and scenes, watch Alphaville 69, by Jean-Luc Godard.
Watching the film, we can never know what's going to happen next, just as the main character doesn't know what's going to happen next. Our attention is pulled into the film and becomes immersed in the main character's journey. It's a journey that is constructed one moment at a time; we're never playing through a scene just to get to the next one.
If you can't forestall your conceptual mind from taking over as you write, consider writing scenes around feelings as a separate step in your process. Focus on each scene separately; focus on each moment. Don't plan on getting to the next scene, let yourself immerse yourself in the moments.
I've found that children can do this easily, but most adults have been trained by the school system into essay-style writing. Create a thesis statement, then write to expand on that statement. It's a who, what, when, where, why style of writing. It's a map for writing an essay, not telling a story.,p> Don't confuse the map/outline for the journey.
Take your readers on the journey and let them explore it with you.
I have other essays that explore the nature and craft of storytelling at A Story is a Promise | Essays on the Craft of Dramatic Writing!
