Why Your Scene Feels Flat (And How to Fix It with FEELS)
Writer's Journey: I Have an Idea for a Novel. Now What???
Ever finish writing a scene and read it back, feeling your pleased grin shrink, getting smaller and smaller as the pages turn? Ever get to the end of your scene and think, “Man, this isn’t nearly as good as I thought it was,” or, “This isn’t working,” or just, “This is so bad,” and have no idea what to do about it?
Diagnose the Problem
Get to the heart of why it isn’t working. You don’t have to be technical about this. What’s your gut reaction? Maybe It’s boring. Or, This character is driving me nuts. He’s bound to send all my readers running.
That’s all you need!
Every single problem your scene can have is right there in my FEELS scene writing method (which I broke down here on Monday).
All you have to do is run through the FEELS acronym to figure out why your problem is happening.
Remember:
F = Focus - Your scene needs a goal.
E = Emotion - Your scene needs a heart (or emotion).
E = Escalation - Your scene needs stakes (something important that can be lost).
L = Lens - Your scene needs a point of view (ahem, your character’s, not yours as the writer).
S = Shift - Your scene needs a purpose. Meaning, something needs to change at the end.
So let’s go back to our previously mentioned problems.
Why is your book boring? Be honest here: Does it have a clear goal? If having a goal isn’t in itself the problem, have you made it clear what is really on the line here? Why this goal is important? Or does it seem pointless because nothing has changed at the end of the scene?
What about that character of yours? If he’s driving you nuts, is it because he makes choices that seem illogical? This is usually because you haven’t explained why this main character is making the choices he does. You need to make him empathetic. Really show us how he’s interpreting the events of this story. Let him explain the reasoning behind what he does. And also, let us inside a little more. Give some indication of what he feels alongside what he thinks.
You can begin to see how the FEELS Method can help with both drafting and revising your scenes.
Want to snag that FEELS Method download? Head on over and grab a copy.