WEBVTT 1 00:00:11.760 --> 00:00:17.789 Joe Sidery: I see we've already got lots of people joining. That's great. 2 00:00:19.070 --> 00:00:27.810 Joe Sidery: if you can, guys, if you can just hear, hear me and Julian, see us clearly. If you could just drop in the chat. Kind of your name, and and where you're connecting from we'd love to hear that 3 00:00:31.020 --> 00:00:34.490 Joe Sidery: brilliant Colorado, Belgium, Maine. 4 00:00:34.930 --> 00:00:35.930 Joe Sidery: Florida. 5 00:00:36.630 --> 00:00:39.250 Joe Sidery: Ottawa, Nevada, Florida. Wow. 6 00:00:42.610 --> 00:00:47.760 Julie Artz: Fun to see some familiar names. Welcome welcome everyone. 7 00:00:54.900 --> 00:00:56.360 Joe Sidery: A fantastic 8 00:01:03.340 --> 00:01:08.560 Joe Sidery: Reese, Sacramento, Georgia. Frankfurt, Alberta Brilliant 9 00:01:13.380 --> 00:01:16.779 Joe Sidery: another Canadian. Amy says. 10 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:28.040 Joe Sidery: Okay, fantastic. So I'll just give it a little bit more time, guys. And then I'm just gonna run over some quick housekeeping notes. 11 00:01:30.630 --> 00:01:33.670 Joe Sidery: Arizona, another from Belgium. Wow! 12 00:01:36.860 --> 00:01:38.290 Joe Sidery: Great! Well, welcome 13 00:01:38.670 --> 00:01:48.619 Joe Sidery: my name is Joe from pro writing aid. And thank you so much for joining us today. So before we get started, I would just like to run through a few housekeeping items. 14 00:01:50.490 --> 00:02:03.740 Joe Sidery: so replays will be added to the hub page of this workshop once they are being done being pro processed by zoom this can take a little bit of time so please don't worry. It will be added as soon as possible. 15 00:02:03.960 --> 00:02:08.280 Joe Sidery: and replays are available for everyone for a week 16 00:02:08.310 --> 00:02:11.579 Joe Sidery: after the event until March the first. 17 00:02:11.710 --> 00:02:17.419 Joe Sidery: After this date they will only be available for premium and premium pro users. 18 00:02:19.210 --> 00:02:20.989 Joe Sidery: Oh, there you go. 19 00:02:21.720 --> 00:02:38.940 Joe Sidery: So at the moment, at the moment we're offering a 25% off yearly premium or premium pro licenses. You can access this discount page from the hub, but I'll be sure to drop all the links in the chat at the end of the call. So please don't worry. 20 00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:48.209 Joe Sidery: So premium day details. So our Monday to Thursday sessions are free for everyone to attend. 21 00:02:48.990 --> 00:02:54.000 Joe Sidery: Friday sessions are limited to premium and premium pro users. 22 00:02:54.100 --> 00:02:58.639 Joe Sidery: So free users can upgrade their accounts by Friday morning to gain access 23 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:07.969 Joe Sidery: and premium and premium pro users will receive an email Friday morning with instructions for attending the live sessions and viewing the replays. 24 00:03:11.050 --> 00:03:28.050 Joe Sidery: And you can join our online writing community using using your pro writing aid login at this link here, and I'll be sure to drop that in the chat at the end of the the workshop. And so here you can keep talking with other romance, writing fans and keep up to date with more of our writing events. 25 00:03:30.410 --> 00:03:40.770 Joe Sidery: So just a few reminders for this session. Please use the Q. And A. QA. Box. If you have questions for either me or our speaker. If you'd like to chat with other viewers, please use the chat 26 00:03:41.100 --> 00:03:49.100 Joe Sidery: and links to your office and from our speakers will be available on the romance rights as week Hub and in our participants. Guide. 27 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:55.950 Joe Sidery: Okay, thanks for joining us today. And let's get started. 28 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.990 Joe Sidery: So today we are joined by Juli art. 29 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:22.189 Joe Sidery: Julie helps writers who dream of a life spent telling stories that matter slay their doubt demons so they can send their work out into the world with confidence. An active member of the writing community she has volunteered for Sc. Bwi. Team, Pitt and Pitch wars, and is a member of Efa. The authors Guild and A. WP. 30 00:04:22.310 --> 00:04:36.700 Joe Sidery: A. Social and environmental justice minded Story geek. Julie lives in an enchanted forest outside of Seattle, Washington, with her husband, 2 strong willed teenagers, and a couple of naught naughty, furry familiars. 31 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:43.660 Joe Sidery: so without further ado. I will hand over to Julie, for I'm sure will be a wonderful workshop over to you, Julie. 32 00:04:44.260 --> 00:04:57.109 Julie Artz: Thanks so much, Joe. Well, as I was just telling Joe before we got started. It's a not unsurprising to find people who have written multiple books before they really really understand 33 00:04:57.110 --> 00:05:23.419 Julie Artz: the smallest unit of story which is seen. So we're really gonna deep dive into that today. And if you haven't yet grabbed the the extra materials that I provided that will include the screen. The slides from this presentation, and also a bonus exercise. Please do so because it will really help you practice everything that we're gonna talk about here. So I'm just gonna share my screen and then we'll get started. 34 00:05:31.520 --> 00:05:46.590 Julie Artz: Okay, so our objectives today are to define what a scene is and how it works in fiction to understand the 6 parts of scene. to use scene goals, to create a cause-and-effect trajectory in your story. 35 00:05:46.650 --> 00:05:58.210 Julie Artz: to avoid common scene level mistakes, and to heighten emotion at the scene level. And of course all of these objectives are around making your overall story stronger. 36 00:06:03.180 --> 00:06:05.280 Julie Artz: So what is a scene 37 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:31.669 Julie Artz: I like to call Scene the smallest unit of story, the atom in stories, periodic table. Right? It's a finite, relatively short moment. In time it takes place in one concrete location or setting. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It contains a moment of change that moves the story forward by advancing the plot, the character, the world building, or, in the best case scenario, all 3. Right? So 38 00:06:31.670 --> 00:06:51.919 Julie Artz: why do we care about about that moment of change. Well, a collection of sentences does not necessarily tell a story, right? An academic paper product description, legal disclaimers. Those are collections of sentences, but they're not stories. Only scenes contain that basic element of the whole story which is to say. 39 00:06:51.920 --> 00:07:05.450 Julie Artz: in the scene, just as in the story, as a whole, something must change. You start in one place and end up somewhere else. Whether that's a physical location, a mental state, a relationship or a realization. 40 00:07:05.490 --> 00:07:14.139 Julie Artz: And every scene is a tiny arc, and all of those tiny arcs come together to create your larger story. Arc. 41 00:07:18.610 --> 00:07:46.130 Julie Artz: So how do we identify a scene? Don't be nervous or upset if you are not 100% sure. What a scene is you're thinking like, is it seen a chapter? I'm not really sure I get lots of clients coming my way who aren't exactly sure what a scene is or how to identify it. So we're gonna start there first. There are many different kinds of scenes, and we'll talk about the different kinds of scenes. In a minute. But 42 00:07:46.700 --> 00:08:09.419 Julie Artz: a scene itself is bounded by this moment of change. So here are some things that can change the point of view. Character leaves one location for another. Someone talking to the Pov Pov character in the scene leaves a new character, enters the location and disrupts the action that's going on, or one of the existing characters in the scene takes an action that signifies a change of scene. Okay? 43 00:08:09.420 --> 00:08:20.369 So a scene generally happens in one location. It's useful to think about bringing actors onto the stage. Right? Like, that's the classic scene. If you think about a play, a scene. 44 00:08:20.540 --> 00:08:44.749 Julie Artz: Multiple characters walk onto stage together and they walk off together and boom! That's the end of your scene. What they do, what they set out to do, and then the scene ends. They walk off the stage. Sometimes entire books can take place in a single location. But the scene changes when the action changes. So that's why it can't be as simple as just a change in location. 45 00:08:45.080 --> 00:09:09.209 Julie Artz: so some examples of of this are, let's say I'm at a coffee shop having a cappuccino. This is my scene. Okay, how can how can I know when this scene starts or ends, I finish my coffee and leave the coffee shop. I go catch the bus, and that is another scene where I have now changed location no longer in the coffee shop. I'm on the bus. A side character leaves 46 00:09:09.210 --> 00:09:20.559 the friend I'm Ca, having coffee with gets up and leaves, so I get my phone out and check the news. That's the scene. Whatever I see in the news will launch me into the next scene. 47 00:09:20.560 --> 00:09:24.009 A new character comes and disrupts. 48 00:09:24.010 --> 00:09:26.820 Julie Artz: Say I. 49 00:09:27.760 --> 00:09:58.970 Julie Artz: I'm sitting having a coffee in the coffee shop, and my future love interest walks in, and my heart goes pitter-pat, and that changes everything right? So this is romance writers, week after all. Or an existing character. Disrupts in some way. Maybe my love interest comes in and starts. A fight with the barista and pandemonium ensues. So whatever was happening before that person walked into the scene, it changes because of the action that they have taken. 50 00:09:59.110 --> 00:10:05.050 Julie Artz: So those are just some examples of how you might find those boundaries of what is a scene. 51 00:10:06.070 --> 00:10:32.900 Julie Artz: Okay, so what are the types of scenes? Laurie Alberts, in her wonderful book, showing and telling, defines 6 types of scenes, a conflict that can be a literal battle or a verbal sparring introduction meeting a new character. Think of your meat cute when you meet the love interest. Right? That's an introduction scene, a turning point. Scene the a moment that changes everything in the characters 52 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:35.590 Julie Artz: or emotion. 53 00:10:39.830 --> 00:11:03.290 Julie Artz: A cliffhanger, a mystery that's introduced, that creates suspense. Flashback provides key information. But from the point of view of the character set in the past. Or resolution. Think of the the the love interest arriving, making their grand gesture, all is forgiven happily ever after. Kaboom. That's your resolution. 54 00:11:03.290 --> 00:11:20.000 Julie Artz: So there are other types of scenes that can turn up in fiction, especially depending on you know, which type which genre you're writing. But these are the essential ones to be thinking about when you're when you're looking at your story structure. 55 00:11:21.450 --> 00:11:22.650 And of course. 56 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:49.100 Julie Artz: at the scene level. There are 6 parts of scene. I really like Louis Yorstead's 10 day outlined. Definition of what a scene is. I think it's one of the most succinct ways of defining. What a scene is that I've seen! And he says, just like every novel, has a structure your scenes will as well, with the major difference being that scenes follow an abbreviated structure. This structure is made up of 6 basic parts. 57 00:11:49.220 --> 00:12:08.610 Julie Artz: the goal. Your character, of course, is pursuing a goal. Challenges! They face various conflicts and obstacles while trying to reach that goal, the outcome. They either succeed in their story goal in their single, or they don't succeed in their single a reaction. How do they react to the things that have just happened on the page? 58 00:12:08.610 --> 00:12:22.719 Julie Artz: Reflection, considering their options going forward, and then decision which tends to lead to the next new goal. Right? They make a decision, form a new goal, and they begin the cycle again, starting with the next scene. 59 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:48.870 Julie Artz: So just a few things to think about when you're considering these 6 parts of scene. Yes, every character needs to have a scene level goal. But that doesn't mean that the scene that they have to achieve their scene goal in order to have a successful scene. There are plenty of scenes that are very important and pivotal in a story that happened because a character sets out to do something and doesn't succeed right. 60 00:12:49.600 --> 00:13:03.810 But there does need to be something standing in the way of them, and she achieving their goal. That's your challenge, your obstacle. Right? A result. What happens if they either do or do not achieve their goal, and a reaction to that app outcome. 61 00:13:03.810 --> 00:13:28.189 Julie Artz: one. Sometimes when it comes to those outcomes, it's the failures and pivots to the new goal that create a lot of the tension and forward motion and unexpected surprises in fiction. If the characters set out to achieve, seen by seeing every little single goal, and achieved them with no obstacles, with no pivots, with no surprises that wouldn't make an interesting story, right? So. So you want to look 62 00:13:28.190 --> 00:13:47.580 or ways that the character can set out to do something and fail, because sometimes the failures are even more interesting than the successes. And even if your characters do achieve their original scene goal, there can always be unintended consequences that change the course of the story and also drive that tension. 63 00:13:51.220 --> 00:14:01.340 Julie Artz: Okay? So if this is sounding a little bit like, Oh, there's 6 types of scenes, and there's 6 parts of each scene. Oh, no, it's it's a formula. I just want to say it's not. 64 00:14:01.390 --> 00:14:32.240 Julie Artz: It's a framework for understanding how your story works and how the pieces fit together. But that doesn't mean that every scene is gonna have the same 6 parts in the same order, in the same number of words over and over again for 300 pages right reading that book would be agony. The 6 parts of scene are a framework that help you understand what needs to happen in a scene, but it can. How it happens, can be different, and should be different. To create the the rhythm and pacing of your story. 65 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:38.689 Julie Artz: So what do scenes do 66 00:14:38.720 --> 00:15:02.850 Julie Artz: they? Obviously they have an action, they have a a goal and an outcome. What often gets forgotten when writing a scene is the stakes and consequences, and those come from those second set of 3 parts of scene, the reaction, the reflection in the decision, right people usually get the action part right, the goal the outcome. They know, because that's 67 00:15:02.850 --> 00:15:27.599 Julie Artz: the the meet quote-unquote of the scene. And then they skimp on the reaction, the reflection in the decision. That's when the protagonist realizes the stakes and consequences of what happens and then makes a decision. So it's what propels the story forward. So you don't want to forget that if you have a character taking a bunch of different actions, and then meeting some obstacles and doing some different things, and then 68 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:53.939 Julie Artz: moving straight on to the next thing. The reader might not know and understand what the what the point is, what the characters, thinking how they react, are reacting. Those reactions and reflections are part of building the voice of the character and really making us understand why the character is doing when it's doing what he or she is doing so. You really don't wanna skimp on the reaction, reflection and decision. 69 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:22.090 Julie Artz: and part of the reason that you don't want to skimp on. That is because that reaction and reflection and the decision is what sets up the cause and effect trajectory for your whole story. I'm sure you've heard about cause and effect. Your point of view. Character has this story goal and this overall motivation, and they are doing things in each scene that move the character in the direction of their goal, or 70 00:16:22.090 --> 00:16:32.410 or delay the character's pursuit of the goal which causes them to pivot and try something different. That's the sort of classic. Try and fail, try and fail, try and fail. That happens in the first half of your book. 71 00:16:32.410 --> 00:16:46.750 or moves the character in a new direction, entirely like when you have one of those really unexpected things that happens. You know you're not planning on on falling in love. And then and then you're being cute 72 00:16:46.750 --> 00:17:11.219 Julie Artz: walks into the room 5 min after you've sworn off men forever. Right? That changes the direction of of everything that's gonna happen. So I made this little chart here that I think can be really helpful. In terms of thinking about a scene. You have your first scene goal, and at the end of that scene you make a decision. Your character makes a decision that leads to scene goal number 2, 73 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:35.949 Julie Artz: which, of course, feeds into the next scene, and at the end of that scene the character will make another decision which again becomes the scene. Goal for for scene 3. So you can start to see how that cause and effect trajectory comes together, and it's not so much that that the character knows exactly how they're gonna move through the plot. It's that each time they're reacting 74 00:17:35.950 --> 00:17:42.830 and then creating a new scene goal that is, gonna drive the trajectory of the story forward. 75 00:17:43.940 --> 00:18:13.570 Julie Artz: Okay? And how do the characters make these decisions and and set these scene goals? It's all about motivation, right character, motivation is at the heart of all of this the the goal. Whether you're talking at the scene level or the story, is what the character wants in that moment. The motivation is why they want it, and the plot is what they do to try to achieve it right? And all of those things together drive the characters change arc, and that has to begin at the scene level. 76 00:18:17.570 --> 00:18:27.360 Julie Artz: So here are some of the most common mistakes I see when when writers come to me, and they're having trouble with their story. 77 00:18:27.470 --> 00:18:40.780 Julie Artz: they have a scene that's not really a scene. Maybe it's all summary. Maybe there's no actual action. Maybe it's it's multiple scenes crammed together into one scene. The scene! Goals aren't clear. 78 00:18:40.780 --> 00:19:05.670 There aren't enough challenges that. It's too easy for the for the character to go from place to place. It can be really hard to torture our characters, but that's where all the good stuff is right. If we let them go too easily through their story. You're not gonna have the kind of tension and pacing that's gonna keep readers turning pages. So if you're one of those writers who doesn't like to torture their characters, you might find that 79 00:19:05.670 --> 00:19:29.539 you haven't put enough obstacles in your characters, path as as they're going through their scenes. Conversely, you might have too many challenges. Where they are just slogging through every obstacle. They never get a win. They never move forward. It's just backwards, backwards, backwards. You want that cadence, that ebb and flow of success and fail. Try and fail, try and fail. 80 00:19:29.540 --> 00:19:49.519 try and succeed. You can't go through the whole the whole book doing nothing but facing challenges, or it won't be a satisfying reader. Experience one of the most common, as I mentioned before is not taking the time for that reaction or reflection. That's the second part of of the scene. 81 00:19:50.190 --> 00:20:14.890 Julie Artz: But another important one to talk about is when the decision that the character makes doesn't fit the character's personality or motivations so that can really come into play. If you've had too many scenes where you haven't provided the reaction and reflection. That's where the interiority comes into play with your character, and that's what helps the reader understand why the character does what he or she does. So. 82 00:20:14.890 --> 00:20:39.350 If you have skimmed on that consistently throughout your your story, you might get to a major decision point where the reader is like this doesn't make sense. Why would they do this? And that pulls the reader out of the story, and, conversely, a character doesn't make a decision at all. If if there's surprise after surprise after twist after twist after twist happening to this character. 83 00:20:39.350 --> 00:21:01.180 Julie Artz: they're not making any decisions, they're just being blown on the wind of whatever is, is actually driving the story. That also doesn't give us the opportunity to know the character and to see them trying to achieve their goal. So each of these likely indicates that you don't yet know your story, or, more specifically, you don't know your main character well enough yet. 84 00:21:01.630 --> 00:21:02.970 Julie Artz: but we can fix it. 85 00:21:05.350 --> 00:21:17.429 Julie Artz: And one of the ways that you'll fix it is by revealing emotion on the page. Right? That's a key part of that of that reflection of that, that 86 00:21:18.090 --> 00:21:46.530 Julie Artz: resolution that comes in each scene. So emotional change is generated when the character either achieves or doesn't achieve their single goal right if they don't care whether they achieve their scene goal or not. If no emotion is generated, then why, I would ask, why is the scene there every once in a while you can get away with a throwaway scene where the where the main character goes, get and gets a cup of coffee. Maybe it's just really voicey. Maybe you get some piece of news about the world that they need to have 87 00:21:46.530 --> 00:22:11.480 for the, for the larger story to make sense. But for the most part you want to have your seen goals be things that the that the main characters emotionally invested in because it drives the plot, but it also drives the readers feelings about the story. Good scenes always let us know what the protagonist is thinking, feeling, and doing, not just doing right. Many writers shy away from showing us what 88 00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:36.220 the protagonist is thinking or feeling. Because writing emotion is hard, right? It really it is II wanna validate that. But but readers need that. That view into the thoughts and feelings of the character. What's happening outside the window doesn't matter unless we know why it matters to your main characters. So we want to know that what things mean to them, how they feel, how they're making the decisions that they're making, why they're doing it. 89 00:22:36.220 --> 00:22:58.670 what they're doing, and if you leave that out of your work the reader will make things up. They'll tell themselves the meaning of your story, and they might get it wrong. And then they'll be again like I was talking about in the last slide. They'll be confused. Why did the character do this? Because I have told myself this whole story about why they're doing what they're doing. And I was wrong because there wasn't any information to the contrary, on the page. Right? 90 00:22:59.370 --> 00:23:23.950 So we react to that as readers to that moment that hope turns to devastation when the wife who plans the perfect anniversary dinner finds out that her husband will be working late. Instead of coming home, we react to that moment of bravado that turns to terror when our hero realizes he's outnumbered and backed into a corner, we react to the moment that fear turns to triumph when a character hits that long-awaited First Home Rule. 91 00:23:23.950 --> 00:23:32.099 Julie Artz: Right? Those are all emotions, and they are a key piece of writing strong scenes. 92 00:23:32.420 --> 00:23:59.870 Julie Artz: Okay, a little bit more on writing emotion. There! Could I could write a whole book about this, do a whole presentation just on writing emotion. But instead, I'll just say, go read. Donald Masse's the emotional craft of fiction. One of my favorite things from his book is the idea of Third Level Emotions. So Donald Moss wrote, stage magicians use misdirection to take their audience by surprise. Emotional craft is similar. 93 00:23:59.870 --> 00:24:23.949 Artful fiction surprises readers with their own feelings, and he defined Third Level emotions as the emotions that lay underneath the expected emotion digging into those underlying emotions surprises the reader, reveals deeper character and generates emotion, because ultimately the reason that we're putting emotion on the page is not just to to dutifully record why, what the character is feeling. 94 00:24:23.950 --> 00:24:33.769 but to generate some emotional response in the reader. Right? Because that's what makes them invest in the character, invest in the story and keep turning pages. So 95 00:24:33.910 --> 00:25:04.059 Julie Artz: I really like Donald Moss's concept of Third level emotions because it really helps reveal a lot about character. So if, for example, your character's feeling angry because they got a speeding ticket that anchors the top level emotion almost anybody. If they get a speeding ticket. They're gonna be angry right? But what else might they be feeling? They might be feeling anxiety because it's their second parking ticket of the month, and they don't know how they're gonna pay the fines. That anxiety might not only be 96 00:25:04.060 --> 00:25:28.919 interesting to poke at. It might ramp up their anger. Maybe they have an outsized anger reaction to getting this speeding ticket, and they start yelling at the at the the person. The poor person that tries to give them the ticket, and and it launches some other aspect of the scene. They might feel shame because their partner has mocked them about their bad luck with parking tickets in the past right? And that shame is is that third level. 97 00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:52.260 The key is to dig into those unexpected emotions that are specific to your character's motivation and backstory right? Because, the reason that different people react differently to getting that speed tick speeding ticket is because of whatever happened earlier in the day, or whatever happened in their whole driving history that led to this moment where they're getting a speeding ticket. And that's more interesting. 98 00:25:52.260 --> 00:25:59.770 Then, just having the character be angry, which is that top level emotion? Again, that most characters would feel in that situation. 99 00:26:02.540 --> 00:26:10.989 Julie Artz: Okay, so whether you're writing your first draft or thinking about scene level work for the first time in in a revision. 100 00:26:12.500 --> 00:26:35.950 Julie Artz: Make room for some detours. Here you can. You can map out in a detailed outline every single cause and effect trajectory of your entire story, but leave room for those detours and unexpected surprises, because it may be that you were expecting that one outcome from your scene, and when you start writing it the characters tell you that something else is meant to happen. 101 00:26:35.950 --> 00:26:47.620 And I always say, go for it. Leave room for that. Even if you end up cutting it later, you'll probably learn something important about your character that is worthwhile for later in your story. 102 00:26:51.380 --> 00:27:15.159 Julie Artz: Okay? So a little bit more about backstory. We've talked about how backstory sets up your character motivation. It gives us the context for the characters, reactions, and emotions on the page. But you have to use it sparingly right? How many of you have been told? You've got too much backstory. Too much info dump in this opening scene. In this opening chapter, in this opening act of your story. Cut it out. Cut it out. 103 00:27:15.300 --> 00:27:38.670 Julie Artz: Okay, yes, definitely cut it out. Too much backstory will overshore shadow your front story, your story present, but but it's required to have at least an idea of the back story and to hint at it, to leave a trail of breadcrumbs, to let the reader know how the backstory's impacting the front story, to create that sense of a deeper, richer world. The character 104 00:27:38.670 --> 00:27:51.309 did not come into existence on page one you know, if they're if they're 47 years old when they walk onto the page and page one, they have that whole history, and the reader needs to find out about that 105 00:27:51.310 --> 00:28:14.549 Julie Artz: only exactly when they need to know it. To propel the story forward. You don't need to include the entire past 46 years of history, just the key things that will be most important to helping us understand what's gonna challenge the main character in in their front story. So I really love what Cheryl Klein had to say in the magic words about this, the only history your readers need to know. 106 00:28:14.550 --> 00:28:19.290 The only thing that should be on the page is what's relevant either to your plot. 107 00:28:19.300 --> 00:28:31.250 Julie Artz: or how your character will act in the plot. And again, that's that character motivation, and that that that backstory motivation, that that will 108 00:28:31.710 --> 00:28:55.120 Julie Artz: drive your character through the story. She goes on to say, Cheryl Klein does that too much backstory can easily swamp your plot, and that's what I was talking about with infodump in your, especially in your opening chapters. So concentrate on getting the front story out to the reader. Your story present through those scenes that I was talking about that have a strong goal and an outcome and reaction, reflection and decision. 109 00:28:56.140 --> 00:29:14.549 Julie Artz: and use those to show the reader the context of the characters, lives, and relationships, and why the front story is important to that character and then dribble in in tiny bits this backstory that's going to show why they're reacting the way they do to what's on the page. 110 00:29:16.810 --> 00:29:46.329 and related to that idea of dribbling in the back story is the idea of good telling. So right up there with. Cut out the back story. Don't infodump, is another rule that we, as writers, actually have to break, whether we like to or not, which is show. Don't tell right. You actually cannot include every single thing a character does each day of their story. You don't start with them brushing their teeth and making their morning coffee, and and getting dressed and feeding the cat and going out and driving to work because it's boring. 111 00:29:46.330 --> 00:30:14.329 Julie Artz: So you have to summarize, using good telling some of those things that so that the passage of time the the sum of the character reflection. All of those things that don't need to be there in moment by moment action of a scene can happen in summary, and that those transitions in and out of scenes are what I would call good telling. Right? The telling that you need to do. 112 00:30:18.300 --> 00:30:38.579 Julie Artz: Okay. So when you're making decisions as a writer, you know that you've got to get your character from point A to Point B. How do you decide whether something needs to be shown in scene or summary? This is something that is a really handy trick when you're going through a revision, especially if you know you need to cut back on word, count 113 00:30:38.920 --> 00:30:43.880 Julie Artz: go through and look in a given scene. What the stakes are. 114 00:30:43.950 --> 00:30:57.439 Julie Artz: what happens if the character does or does not achieve their scene goal in this scene? What emotion is there on the page? Is there a key plot turning point, something that launches the story in a in a new direction? 115 00:30:57.440 --> 00:31:20.159 Julie Artz: What is the conflict? Is it. Is it really there and important on the page? If the if the scene that you're looking at has all of these, it's probably a scene that belongs in your story. If it's there because it's fun, because it's voicey, because she really liked writing it. But there aren't stakes, character emotion, turning points or conflict. 116 00:31:20.180 --> 00:31:44.899 Julie Artz: It might be something that you can summarize. So go back to the example of I'm in the coffee shop. I finish with coffee, and I go out and get on the bus. Probably the bus ride doesn't need to be there that can just be given to us in summary instead of as a scene. You can use that good telling that I was just talking about to transition. You can let the reader know that I took the bus to get to the next scene. But unless something of 117 00:31:45.130 --> 00:31:55.939 Julie Artz: import happens on the bus, you can just skip it and go on to the next important scene that's going to have those stakes, emotions and turning points and conflict. 118 00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:22.460 Julie Artz: Okay, so I've written a funny little sample scene. And this is not meant to be high literature. But just to give you an example of what some of these elements of scene might look like in practice. So Tuesday morning Beck walked into pomegranate, desperate for her morning cappuccino. Chris was already at her favorite corner table, blowing steam from his cup of tea. 119 00:32:22.460 --> 00:32:28.680 She grabbed her coffee and joined him. I can't believe you're doing this, Chris said, fiddling with his tea bag. He's going to hate it. 120 00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:43.469 Julie Artz: Don't be such a pessimist, Beck replied. It's gonna be perfect. Let's get on with it. Chris glanced at his phone. I've got a meeting at 9. Well, I thought you could help me with some family photos, maybe a couple of gift ideas. Beck wanted this to be a birthday to remember. You only turned 30 once. Right? 121 00:32:43.470 --> 00:32:55.509 Julie Artz: He's definitely gonna hate this Chris Gumble, grumbled. Beck fixed him with her, winning his smile. His brother couldn't resist her, and neither could Chris. Before she'd finished her coffee. She had almost everything she needed to plan the perfect surprise party. 122 00:32:55.750 --> 00:33:08.870 Julie Artz: She leaned into kiss Chris cheek, and then, when a loud voice stopped her in her tracks, what the hell are you doing here? That X straighten cheeks flaming as Mark's fist connected with his brother's unshaven jaw. Well, shit, Beckside. She had a lot of explaining to do 123 00:33:08.870 --> 00:33:31.680 Julie Artz: okay, so this is a simple scene. It's shorter than probably what you would see on the on the page. But it has a few key things. So first I wanna say that it starts with telling right? I'm just upfront giving a Tuesday morning. Beck walked into pomegranate. I don't have a lot of detail about what the what the cafe is like? It's just that grounding in the scene. 124 00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:33.119 Who is it, Beck? 125 00:33:33.190 --> 00:34:04.859 Julie Artz: When is it? Tuesday morning? Where is it. Pomegranate? What does she want? Her morning Cappuccino? And then we get an introduction to a character. Mark's brother, Chris Dialog. That isn't too Telly. It relies on some past context which makes sense because these 2 people are family. Right? They agreed to meet at the coffee shop. It's a natural conversation. It doesn't have a lot of. Well, Bob, as you know, on March 20 ninth my husband of 5 years, mark is turning 30, and I want to have 126 00:34:04.860 --> 00:34:13.339 a birthday party for him, right, like all of that stuff, goes unsaid to keep the dialogue snappy and clear. 127 00:34:14.370 --> 00:34:34.749 Julie Artz: Then we have what can be called the seduction. But really, seduction doesn't have to be literal, romantic seduction. It can be one character trying to convince the other to do something in this case, becks, trying to convince Chris to help her plan this birthday party. We summarize some party details that aren't that important. 128 00:34:34.750 --> 00:34:59.729 Julie Artz: And then mark arrives and punches his brother, which effectively ends the scene. So you'll notice when this scene is ending with some action, especially unexpected action, like Mark coming in and and punching his brother. It doesn't leave a lot of room for Beck to stop and and deeply ponder and reflect and make a new plan right? Because this action has just 129 00:34:59.730 --> 00:35:24.050 Julie Artz: happened. So the the reflection is just a moment. We get a reaction. Her cheeks are flaming. Oh, my goodness! And then, and her statement well, and a sigh, and then the only real moment of reflection that we have and decision is, she had a lot of explaining to do. And so when you have an action scene like this, sometimes it's okay for that reflection and 130 00:35:24.880 --> 00:35:53.190 Julie Artz: the the decision to come in the next scene. Because, like, like, I said, if you're being, for example, chased by an alligator, you're not gonna stop and be like. Hmm! I wonder what to what I should do next. This is really a precarious situation, because I'm being chased by this alligator. No, you're just gonna be running for your life and doing the zigzag thing right trying to get away from the alligator and the reflection of like, Oh, my gosh! I almost got eaten by an alligator is gonna come in the next scene. 131 00:35:53.590 --> 00:36:22.180 Julie Artz: Okay, so I know that's a light hearted example. Of what? Of what a scene might look like. So I wanna consider a famous scene that will give you another example. And of course this is from Pride and Prejudice. So one of the things that we haven't talked that much about is is grounding grounding the pre. The reader in the who? What? Where? When of your scene in the beginning? So I love the 132 00:36:22.180 --> 00:36:37.250 Julie Artz: the way that this first scene from Pride and Prejudice really grounds us, not just in where we are in space and time, but in the cultural moment that that this these characters are gonna find themselves in. So, of course, the famous lines. 133 00:36:37.250 --> 00:37:01.869 Julie Artz: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Right? That is just really a good statement of theme right off the bat. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood. This truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families that he is considered the rightful property of someone or others of their 134 00:37:01.870 --> 00:37:20.949 Julie Artz: daughters. And so, of course, that is the author setting, walking, in, setting up exactly what's about to happen, which is when famously Mr. And Mrs. Bennett have an argument about what's gonna happen, because some new eligible bachelors have have let Netherfield Park right? 135 00:37:21.320 --> 00:37:46.330 Julie Artz: So I think probably you're all familiar with this scene, and we won't. We won't go into reading all of it. And, in fact, I've summarized it because it is quite long, quite a bit longer than my my coffee scene in the last slide. But the important thing here is that we're revealing character. Dynamics in the banter between Mr. And Mrs. Bennett. But we're also really setting up 136 00:37:46.330 --> 00:37:59.169 Julie Artz: the main action of the plot right? So they're talking about single man of large fortune, 4 or 5,000 a year. What a fine thing for our girls! Right? So we get right off the bat. 137 00:37:59.170 --> 00:38:27.829 Julie Artz: The story goal here Mrs. Bennett, is being really upfront. These eligible bachelors have moved in, and I want to marry them off to my daughters, and of course, she's encouraging him. Mr. Bennett, to go and see Mr. Bingley when he comes into the neighborhood, which is the same goal for this first scene. Right? So story goal, the daughters. Scene goal. To do that, we're gonna go introduce ourselves to the 138 00:38:28.660 --> 00:38:53.629 Julie Artz: to the eligible bachelors that just have moved in up the way. And so the outcome of this scene is he agrees to go, but not before. There is a lot of banter that lets us know that. That you know. Mrs. Bennett's a little over the top. Mr. Bennett's a little jaded and a little sarcastic. But yet even so, the at the end of the scene, the story goal is reinforced. Mr. Bennett was so 139 00:38:53.630 --> 00:39:18.129 mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humor, reserve, and caprice that the experience of 3 and 20 years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. Her mind was less difficult to develop. She was a woman of mean, understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married. Its solace was visiting and news. 140 00:39:18.130 --> 00:39:32.610 So of course, we're getting a little bit of of telling here that that you might not be able to get away with in your story unless you can deliver it in such a voicey and memorable way. 141 00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:36.000 Julie Artz: Okay. Oops. 142 00:39:42.420 --> 00:39:43.570 Julie Artz: So 143 00:39:44.690 --> 00:40:14.669 Julie Artz: now let's evaluate scenes in our own writing when you're sitting down to to look at a scene like the scene with Mr. And Mrs. Bennett at the beginning of pride, pride, and Prejudice, you wanna look at things. How does this opening scene break the rules like? I said. It ends with some telling about the characters which you might not be able to get away with. How does it follow the rules? It states the scene goal right up front and makes it very clear how the scene goal plays into the story goal? Right? 144 00:40:14.670 --> 00:40:39.649 And you identify the parts of scene. What type of scene is it? You know, how does it move the story forward. Can you see the cause and effect trajectory? And that's that piece that I was just talking about, where we can see clearly how the story goal and the same goal are related. Does it make sense? Is it logical? Would the characters really behave that way? Is there a problem that we get to watch being solved? Is there a desire? 145 00:40:39.650 --> 00:41:04.639 Is there a conflict? Does something change? Does one thing drive to the next? And does the scene have a point. So these are some of the questions that you're gonna ask yourself if you download the the exercise that goes along with this talk when you're assessing your own scene, and a scene from one of your pomp titles so that you can not only evaluate your own writing, but see how it's been done successfully on 146 00:41:04.640 --> 00:41:08.260 the page by a comparable title to to what you're writing. 147 00:41:11.370 --> 00:41:32.480 Julie Artz: Okay? So, as I said, if you are familiar with the QR code. You can just snap a picture right now. This will take you right to the page that will get you the download of not only my my slides from the presentation today, but also of that exercise that I was talking about where you will 148 00:41:32.490 --> 00:41:55.919 Julie Artz: photocopy a a scene and take your highlighters and color code it so that you can understand what the parts of scenes are, what type of scene it is, how it moves the story forward, whether you can identify the cause and effect trajectory. This is something that I really really really recommend, that you practice not only with see different key scenes in your own book. 149 00:41:55.920 --> 00:42:18.860 Julie Artz: But across genres you'll see that there's a real difference in pacing between a thriller, for example, and a historical romance. Right? The the scenes will be longer in some genres than others, they'll be shorter in others. Middle grade tends to have shorter scenes, snappier scenes, less space for for 150 00:42:18.860 --> 00:42:48.259 Julie Artz: that, that reflection and that emotion. Then, whereas you might have in adult literary fiction something that's mostly emotion, mostly internals happening from the character. So that balance of action to reaction, to of action, to emotion. That's gonna change from genre to genre, from age, category to age category. And that's why it's really important to do this comparison. To 151 00:42:48.290 --> 00:43:01.469 Julie Artz: a comp title for your work. So let's say you're writing contemporary romance. You want to look at something that has been published in the last 3 or 4 years to get an idea of the cadence. 152 00:43:01.990 --> 00:43:26.579 Julie Artz: but that balances between internals and and snappy dialogue and action and all of those things. And you can do that, using this exercise that that I'm providing here. And if you are not familiar with QR. Codes, or you're not in a place where you can grab that QR code. Don't worry. That exercise is also available from the Hub, and I also think that we're putting it in 153 00:43:26.580 --> 00:43:40.110 into the chat as well. You'll have multiple chances to get it. But I do really recommend trying this exercise. It's a good way to make sure that you really understand what we've been talking about today. 154 00:43:41.260 --> 00:43:58.829 Julie Artz: Okay, so our key takeaways scene is the smallest unit of story. It's made up of 6 parts that drive that cause and trajectory, cause and effect. Trajectory of your story. Scenes can be used to heighten emotion, reveal character, advance the plot, and flush out world building 155 00:43:58.990 --> 00:44:04.310 Julie Artz: and avoiding common scene. Level mistakes will strengthen your stories. 156 00:44:04.390 --> 00:44:29.370 So before we jump into the QAI do wanna say that I have some additional resources. I really like Jane Friedman's fund fundamentals of writing a scene for a little bit of a deeper dive into this topic. Story grid also has an interesting an is interesting post on writing scenes the Anatomy of Scenes from Coedian writer is a is a good one as well. 157 00:44:29.370 --> 00:44:54.070 Well, who makes it happen, giving your characters agency on Jane Friedman. If you find that you're not putting enough obstacles in the way of your character, and they're getting too easily from place to place. Or, conversely, if if everything that's happening to the character is outside their control, and they're not having any like reaction decision points in your story. You it might be a matter of 158 00:44:54.070 --> 00:45:14.019 of digging into that agency. So like I said, you can download these slides and and get the get the links to these additional resources. That will help you dig a little bit more into story. So now we're ready for questions. So I'm gonna stop my screen share 159 00:45:15.830 --> 00:45:18.100 Julie Artz: and take a look at the Q. And A. 160 00:45:19.960 --> 00:45:24.320 Can a change in scene occur absent to any characters. 161 00:45:24.660 --> 00:45:47.390 Julie Artz: boy, I you know I'm really never wanna say never to something like this, because I feel like rules like writing rules like this are made to be broken, but I don't know who's narrating the story. If there's no character there, so so I would have to say that. 162 00:45:47.970 --> 00:46:12.170 Julie Artz: perhaps you mean the main character, is there? But no additional characters are there? And if that's the case, of course, if the character is trying to do one thing, and then pivots for some reason, and starts doing another. That is actually a change in scene, even if no additional characters. Come or go, and if no, no location change happens, yeah. So it's all about you know, if you can. If you can pinpoint 163 00:46:12.170 --> 00:46:18.729 the character scene, goal, and it changes. That's most likely a new, a new scene. 164 00:46:18.860 --> 00:46:22.689 Julie Artz: Lou asks. Does the 165 00:46:22.970 --> 00:46:27.359 Julie Artz: seen always change when the location changes? 166 00:46:28.190 --> 00:46:51.699 Julie Artz: almost always. Yes, I would say a chase scene would be an example of when that's not the case, because you might be running from one place to another, and you may, during the chase, go through, set several alleyways or through a restaurant, you know, out a window that kind of thing, and it's all one chase scene, but for the most part, if I mean, I could also see a situation where characters 167 00:46:51.700 --> 00:47:06.729 Julie Artz: outside of chase scene, where they're walking side by side or driving from Point A to Point B, and they might drive through several towns or something like that. And it's all one scene. In that? If that's the case, what you're looking at again is that seen goal? 168 00:47:07.280 --> 00:47:21.649 Julie Artz: And have they changed? Have they changed what they're trying to do? Has a person left. The scene, or come into the scene that signifies a a scene change. Yeah. 169 00:47:22.980 --> 00:47:43.540 Julie Artz: Do the 6 parts of a scene need to happen in that order. That's a great question, Brooke. Not necessarily like, I said. There are circumstances where you, if you're getting chased by the alligator, you have to make the choice, to climb up the tree before you have a chance to have that reflection. And 170 00:47:43.540 --> 00:47:58.900 Julie Artz: and reaction right? So so it could be, especially with Cliffhangers, for example, quite often. Those those last parts of the scene get saved for a little bit later. But for the most part your seen goal. 171 00:47:59.560 --> 00:48:07.040 Julie Artz: the obstacles to you achieving that goal and the outcome do happen in that order. Right? That's just like 172 00:48:07.080 --> 00:48:33.320 Julie Artz: story, logic, cause and effect. But you can be. The character can be reacting and reflecting throughout the action, especially for a larger scene. They will be right. You don't wanna you don't wanna just save all the reflection and reaction to the very end. And like just chunk it in the last 3 paragraphs of of every scene right? A lot of it will be woven in, so there'll be a back and forth between some action, some obstacles, some reaction. 173 00:48:33.320 --> 00:48:38.610 Julie Artz: and another obstacle. That sort of thing. So yeah, that's a that's a great question. 174 00:48:40.270 --> 00:48:51.730 Julie Artz: Sara says. I'm considering working on a Category romance series, and I'm wondering roughly how many scenes I should aim for. Are there any guidelines of how many scenes Romance Category Romance novels should have? 175 00:48:52.330 --> 00:48:58.020 Julie Artz: That's a great question. And I'm really going to say it depends, because 176 00:48:58.020 --> 00:49:22.589 there, you know, I've seen things that have said. You know the 80 scenes that you must have in your book, and if you think about it? If your scenes are about a thousand words, which is not an abnormal right, 750 to a thousand words would be a typical scene length, I think. And you have 80 of them. Then that's about 80,000 words, which is about right for category romance. Right? So 177 00:49:22.590 --> 00:49:47.159 so you could say that. But I would say in practice, I have never in my life gone through a a manuscript that I've written, or one that my clients have sent to me and counted the scenes. The the. It takes as many scenes as it takes the the important thing is to have the cause and effect trajectory there that gets them through to the end to their happily ever after. They're happily for now. 178 00:49:47.160 --> 00:50:10.719 Julie Artz: The the best structural work that I've seen in romance is, of course, romancing the beat which doesn't break it down to the scene level, but has, like kind of 10 turning point moments. That that you'll want to to have in in your romance, which is the kind of things that that you're familiar with in romance, the the meat cute. When you meet, the love interest. 179 00:50:10.720 --> 00:50:17.409 the rejection of of love. You know the the coming together. 180 00:50:17.410 --> 00:50:28.250 Julie Artz: proclamation of love, the the splitting across part, the grand gesture, and the coming back together, the happily ever after. So if you're looking for more 181 00:50:29.210 --> 00:50:35.799 Julie Artz: information on how to plot out a romance. I really recommend looking at romancing the beat. It's really 182 00:50:35.810 --> 00:50:40.370 Julie Artz: it's really great for that. Yeah. Yeah. 183 00:50:40.590 --> 00:50:49.670 Julie Artz: can there be one or more scenes in. or one in one or more chapters how to prevent it from getting piled up? 184 00:50:49.970 --> 00:51:02.210 Julie Artz: I'm not 100% clear on. What the what I think you're asking is, what's the relationship between scenes and chapters? Usually 185 00:51:02.750 --> 00:51:04.010 Julie Artz: a scene. 186 00:51:04.680 --> 00:51:07.409 Julie Artz: They'll be 1, 2, 3, 187 00:51:07.750 --> 00:51:09.170 Julie Artz: or more scenes 188 00:51:09.510 --> 00:51:33.670 Julie Artz: to make up a chapter right? A chapter usually has multiple scenes in it. That's not always the case there can. And just like, when I was saying that many scenes are 750 to a thousand words. They're not all right. Exit pursued by bear. That's a whole scene. And that's, you know, just a couple of words, and you can see that we're used to really good effect, especially in tension moments. 189 00:51:33.770 --> 00:51:39.040 in in contemporary fiction as well. Right? So So 190 00:51:39.140 --> 00:51:42.100 Julie Artz: you don't want to have. 191 00:51:43.050 --> 00:51:57.189 Julie Artz: If you have something that you think is a scene, and it's 15,000 words long. It's probably not a scene, or if it is, it probably needs to be revised. So you're thinking about keep thinking about that arc, the the 192 00:51:57.260 --> 00:52:16.619 Julie Artz: finite scene goal and the challenges and the outcome, the arc that's created by that before they go on to their next scene. Goal? So you might a lot a lot of people like to put chapters together into an arc of multiple scenes that all kind of like logically go together. 193 00:52:16.760 --> 00:52:41.620 Julie Artz: So, for example, a whole chapter might be the planning of the birthday that I was talking about in my sample scene. So you know, she might start off with meeting up with her brother and with her, her brother-in-law, and trying to plan this birthday. She, you know things go very wrong when he punches his brother in the face, because he thinks 194 00:52:41.620 --> 00:52:55.720 but his wife's cheating on him, and then, of course, they have the very cringe party where the tensions are really really high. Because of this, all of the stuff that has happened. Those could be like 3 scenes that come together to make one chapter that's about about the birthday. 195 00:52:57.390 --> 00:53:22.250 Julie Artz: Okay, how do we show third level emotions? Because right now all I can think of is telling it. For instance, getting a parking ticket made the main character feel ashamed because they have been told as a child that they can never get anything right. How do I show this. So, Esther, that is such an excellent question. And I'm just gonna say it's literally the topic of an entire book. So I don't. I don't have time to completely fully answer it here. 196 00:53:22.250 --> 00:53:44.720 But what I will say is that practicing the showing of emotion, using voice, using gestures, using memories of backstory is a really really key writing skill, and something that you should just keep practicing and keep looking at your comp titles to see how they're doing it. So one of the things that I 197 00:53:44.720 --> 00:53:57.049 Julie Artz: that I like to use is is anchors to past events. So a an example that I use all the time is is. I have this little 198 00:53:57.300 --> 00:54:19.969 Julie Artz: message in a bottle that sits on my desk, and it was actually pre order swag for one of my friends and critique partners for her debut book. But what I pretend for this example is that my mom gave this to me, and this is a precious artifact. It's the last memory that I that I have of her. And so if I'm trying to convey emotion I might be sitting at my desk, and I might 199 00:54:19.970 --> 00:54:44.789 Julie Artz: pick this up, and I might be looking at it. And because the reader already knows what this means to me because I've established it in a in a past setting. Then they're gonna know right away that I'm thinking about my mom and and so they might see me. You know, put my hand to my chest, and they and they might know that they might see me feel like just the burning of a tear in my eye. And and so that is a way in 200 00:54:44.790 --> 00:55:09.600 to to showing these emotions by finding an emotional anchor in the past that that also in that example, this would become an objective correlative. Right? So every time I'm picking up the thing from from my mom, it's really reminding me of her and generating that that nostalgia and that sadness of of emotion. So I definitely recommend for more information on that to dig into 201 00:55:09.600 --> 00:55:18.780 Julie Artz: Donald Moss's emotional crafts craft of fiction. He has so many, so many, so many examples of how to show emotion. Versus telling. 202 00:55:18.950 --> 00:55:46.440 Julie Artz: Okay. can a scene occur in multiple locations? Say, one character follows another to a second location? Yeah, for sure, like in the examples that I that I was giving just a minute ago, like if they're walking together from one location to the other. But they're still having one continuous conversation. Then. Then it can be one scene absolutely. But if it's 2 people that go out for a day and they go out to lunch, and they're talking about one thing, and then they go to the Zoo, and they're talking 203 00:55:46.440 --> 00:55:58.220 about something else. That's 2 different scenes. So again, it just depends on what that scene goal is, and and whether there is an actual arc, right? Whether there's 204 00:55:58.720 --> 00:56:18.130 Julie Artz: a conflict that they're a goal, that they're trying to achieve, a conflict that's keeping them from achieving it and an outcome. So if they go to the Zoo, and nothing happens that doesn't need to be a scene. It can just be summarized. We went to the Zoo you know I'm tired. We went home, and then at dinner something happened. Then that's that's your next scene. 205 00:56:19.180 --> 00:56:44.090 Julie Artz: What do you think about scenes with small decision making stakes. But you learn about the character's personality. I mean, yeah, absolutely that a small decision making stakes that that reveal a character and world building like that's the key. To to writing these stories right? Like every single scene in your story, cannot be life or Death Stakes. Sometimes they literally just 206 00:56:44.090 --> 00:57:09.019 have to choose what they wanna eat for breakfast, and that can be really hard because they have decision fatigue, or because they're hungover or because they didn't get any sleep the night before, and that can be revealing something about the character and if you, if every single scene in the entire story was that like tension, life or Death Stakes? You're either writing a thriller. And then that's okay, or or you haven't given the 207 00:57:09.020 --> 00:57:31.810 reader a chance to even come up for air and breathe a lot of times. The reason that it works so well to have those tense action packed scenes be followed by an entire scene of reflection and reaction is because it does give the reader a chance to take a breath and pause and collect their thoughts as the character is collecting his or her thoughts as well. 208 00:57:31.990 --> 00:57:32.720 Julie Artz: Yeah. 209 00:57:33.790 --> 00:57:56.630 Julie Artz: okay, we're getting short on time. But I wanna get through all of these, Valerie asks, what are some books or other resources you recommend for people working specifically in the Science Fiction fantasy genres to add in romantic elements, when some characters are just friends, but others are in a romantic situation. X's as friends to lover. Oh, examples, friends to lovers. Okay. 210 00:57:57.320 --> 00:58:22.190 well, so, as you probably all know romantic is having a real moment. You know, if you've got the Life and Death stakes of a massive conspiracy and a Dragon Academy and a super hot, dark lover. You've got fourth winning, which has been on the New York Times bestseller list, for I don't know how long, and it's amazing if you haven't read it, go check it out. So the obviously 211 00:58:22.190 --> 00:58:42.440 many, many Science Fiction fantasy writers of which I'm one are looking for ways to incorporate romance into those typical genre stories because it's hot right now, because readers are gobbling it up right? So when you're looking at doing that. The main thing that you have to ask yourself is. 212 00:58:42.440 --> 00:59:10.229 Julie Artz: am I writing romance first, or am I writing? You know a science fiction fantasy story with a romantic subplot. And that sounds like there's not that much difference, but it's important, because if the entire story falls apart without romance, then you're writing a a traditional romance and and romance in the science fiction fantasy space is also really popular right now. And that's totally okay. I'm I'm when I'm telling you to decide 213 00:59:10.230 --> 00:59:28.730 I'm not putting any sort of value judgment on it. It is totally fine. If you're writing Science Fiction fantasy with a romantic subplot. Or if you're writing romance with a fine science fiction fantasy world, both are fine. There's huge readership for both of those. So the thing to think about is just whether the the central 214 00:59:28.850 --> 00:59:57.499 Julie Artz: point of the story is that romance or not, and then that will help you understand whether you're just going straight up, following the the beats of romancing the beat, or whether you have to take into account all of the of the genre conventions and and that sort of thing that you need to deal with if it's a science fiction fantasy first. So in terms of craft books, there's not necessarily a lot of. 215 00:59:57.500 --> 01:00:05.220 Julie Artz: There's not a particular craft book that I know of, but there are certainly many, many blog posts out there. 216 01:00:05.700 --> 01:00:29.649 Julie Artz: that are gonna have a lot of information on how to weave these things together. I really like to use save the cat for this, because it has the A story. B story. So if you decide that your romance is the B story, that it's a subplot versus the the central plot, then then you can follow that that beat sheet which is available. I'm pretty sure, for free online, different places. 217 01:00:29.650 --> 01:00:37.059 But you can also look at Jessica Brodie's divine save the Cat writes a novel for more information on that, too. 218 01:00:37.060 --> 01:00:56.439 Julie Artz: Okay. The draft of my first novel is ridiculously long. I've tried to revise it and cut it. But sometimes the sections I'm working on end up even longer than what I began. You've given me some ideas of the type of things I can cut. Are there any other things I can do to stop this habit of overwriting? So I really think that. 219 01:00:57.000 --> 01:01:23.530 Julie Artz: this is a tricky thing. figuring out how to condense down. So the first thing you want to ask yourself is, do you have one discrete story goal, or, like many people. They actually have a trilogy, and they've just tried to smush it all into one book so teasing that out can give you space to really fully explore one particular story goal definitely going in like I was talking about and 220 01:01:23.550 --> 01:01:48.479 Julie Artz: deciding where you can summarize instead of having every single thing in scene is important. Look for that back story and info dump. Most of the people that I find that have something that's too long for genre. It's because they have too much backstory and infodump, too many flashbacks. Too many long passages of exposition that are telling the whole history of the world, or the whole backstory of the character and start there. 221 01:01:48.480 --> 01:02:02.000 But that's also where your comp titles can help you. Look at the pacing, look at the way that they're putting their stories together and make sure that you aren't making any obvious mistakes. And of course, if you still can't figure out what to do next. 222 01:02:02.000 --> 01:02:07.750 I can always recommend a book coach. That can help you tease that kind of thing out. Okay. 223 01:02:08.850 --> 01:02:16.190 Julie Artz: I'm looking for a book or a class to learn romantic comedy. Would you please give me some suggestions? Oh, goodness. 224 01:02:16.410 --> 01:02:30.110 Julie Artz: I don't have any good resources on that. I wonder if there are any other presentations as part of romance writer week that deal with romantic comedy. I'm not 100% sure. 225 01:02:30.430 --> 01:02:33.589 Julie Artz: of course, that is an evergreen 226 01:02:34.370 --> 01:02:38.400 popular categories. So I'm sorry that I don't have 227 01:02:38.730 --> 01:02:41.750 Julie Artz: anything else to offer you. There. 228 01:02:41.920 --> 01:02:51.920 Julie Artz: Is romantic romance first, then, fantasy, which is the subplot in romantic. That is the 20 million dollar question. Right? 229 01:02:53.470 --> 01:02:54.930 Can you have 230 01:02:54.980 --> 01:03:17.490 Julie Artz: the fourth wing without the romance subplot? Technically, I think you could. You know, it wouldn't be as as spicy. And of course, if any of you read the second book, I won't give any spoilers. But there's a reveal at the end of the second book, where the romance subplot is gonna come into direct conflict with the plot itself. So I think that it's just important for you to know whether 231 01:03:17.490 --> 01:03:33.009 Julie Artz: it's romance first, and then fantasy or fantasy first and then romance. I think both of them exist in the romantic space. So okay, well, we're 2 min past the hour, and I don't want to take too much more of your time. 232 01:03:33.450 --> 01:03:40.609 Julie Artz: Are there any questions in the in the chat that I missed? I know there's I see a lot of chat chit chat in there. 233 01:03:45.070 --> 01:03:48.350 Joe Sidery: I think you you've covered it, Julie, to be honest 234 01:03:48.490 --> 01:03:51.639 Julie Artz: and breathe. 235 01:03:51.960 --> 01:04:03.540 Joe Sidery: Okay, fantastic. So what what a great session. Thank you all so much for joining and of course, a big big thank you to Julie for such a wonderful webinar, and for sharing such gems of wisdom. 236 01:04:03.750 --> 01:04:13.799 Joe Sidery: As always, you guys can find the replace this session and the other sessions in the romance rights as we hope. You can find the links again in the chat now. 237 01:04:14.880 --> 01:04:26.719 Joe Sidery: And we hope you gain something from this webinar, and we would love you to join us for our next sessions. So thank you very much again to you all and to Julie. And we'll catch you next time, guys. Thank you. 238 01:04:26.820 --> 01:04:28.400 Thanks. Bye. 239 01:04:29.040 --> 01:04:30.229 Joe Sidery: See you later.