Writing Tips - Scene Versus the Summary

One of the worst mistakes new writers make, unaccustomed to their craft, is summarizing. It's not the summary that is bad, per se. Some young (and old) writers do a very good job summarizing. The problem is that they summarize when they should be writing scenes.

It is the scene in which makes a novel a novel. Summaries are what make short stories what they are. The difference is the difference between their lengths.

When you write a summary, you say to the reader, what is before them is not important enough to slow down and stop on. You are saying to a professional eye that you do not know how to take your time when you write. And why would you know? No one has told you!

A scene takes place, not when the reader is told what is happening or what a character thinks or is like, but when a reader is allowed to experience it. Scenes take your writing from storytelling to reality in the reader's imagination.

When you write a summary, the reader misses certain key attributes that bring the characters to life. You don't get the interaction between character and surroundings, other characters, and events. The reader misses the senses; the scents, colors, tastes, and sounds of action. The reader also misses out on how the character behaves and reacts. Instead of a 3-D, in-depth being, the reader gets a flat, imageless cut-out.

How, then, do you write a scene?

First, you must understand what a scene is. Webster's dictionary states that a scene is "A place where an action or event occurs," "An incident or situation," and "A sphere of activity or interest." It also calls a scene a "View" or "Picture" and "A Division."

So what can we take from these descriptions of scene? A scene is simply a clearly marked (separated from the other scenes in a novel by time or place or both) snapshot of a situation that involves one or more of your characters. Your characters come on stage, act, and leave.

To write a scene, and not a summary, you must write to capture the nuances of action in your characters and surroundings. Instead of saying plainly:

Jane walked down the mountain, and into town, before seeing her mother.

You want to draw it out, telling the reader what the mountain looks like, feels like (to Jane), sounds like. What do the birds do? What is the road made out of; is it dirt or cobble stone or concrete? As she enters town, does she talk to anyone, see anyone, hear anyone? Does she interact with nature, and in what way, if so?

Do you see what writing a scene versus a summary is about? It takes time and imagination and it'll take a lot of practice to get used to, but it'll also make you a very, very good writer if you can write scenes well. Anybody with a typewriter can write that Jane left the mountain for home, but to involve the reader, to allow the reader to experience Jane doing so, and putting the reader at Jane's side is something only an experienced writer can do half well.