Writers in the Storm

by Sarah (Sally) Hamer

Of course, the easy answer is: As many as it takes. (Really helpful, right?)

The problem answer is: It depends on many things.

What Is a Scene?

First, let’s define a scene. In most stories, it’s a small section of the main book, which can be anything from super short (under a page) to super long (the entire book – although I don’t recommend it!).

A scene unit usually consists of a beginning, a middle, and an end, and is only part and parcel of a whole book. So, a scene is basically a stand-alone piece that is a part of a much larger total. 

Example: The Hunger Games

Think about the opening of The Hunger Games when Katniss volunteers to take her sister Prim’s place during the reaping ceremony.

The reaping ceremony starts with all of the eligible girls lined up on one side of the plaza, the boys lined up on the other, and the interested spectators gathered around. Effie Trinket steps forward, gives her speech, and reaches into the jar of names, pulling Prim’s name out.

Katniss takes a breath of horror and immediately steps forward, demanding to be the tribute instead of her little sister. The scene concludes with Katniss and Peeta being marched off to be sacrificed to the Capital’s greater good.

Elements of This Scene

The beginning is, of course, where the tension builds as the setup of the drawing takes place. We (the audience) know that something bad is going to happen and know that Katniss is her sister and mother’s only protector.

The middle begins when Prim’s name is called and the shock and horror of what will have to be done dawns on Katniss. It’s not mentioned in the scene itself, since this is at the action level where thinking is not really allowed, but the understanding that a) District Twelve has only had one winner of the Hunger Games in the seven-four years, so the tribute will almost certainly die and, b) Katniss can’t feed her family if she dies in the Games HAS to be going through her head. The audience has seen enough setup in the beginning of the story to know that something terrible is going on.

The end is where she volunteers and is taken away, essentially, to die.

Scene Goal

This scene has a clear goal – to show us that Katniss has courage and is willing to die for her sister. It’s also full of tension, which sets the tone for the whole book. All together, it’s an excellent scene. I don’t know how long it is in the book without digging my copy out, but it’s no more than ten pages and probably less than that. But it fulfills the requirements.

But it’s only a tiny piece of the whole and, although it’s totally necessary to the story, it only tells a little bit of it.

How many scenes are in The Hunger Games? According to http://storyfix.com/the-hunger-games-beat-sheet, there are eighty-five, at least in the book itself. Is that too many? Too few? Or, since they tell the story perfectly, is it just enough?

So, how many scenes need to go into YOUR book?

First, consider the genre.

Different genres, by definition, need different scenes. In a four-hundred-page paranormal adventure, the scenes are normally a little longer than they might be in a 250-page urban adventure. Romance novels vary from 50,000 to 100,000 words (usually 200 to 400 pages), depending on the line. Children’s books are usually shorter, with YA being up for grabs. Which doesn’t help much with number of scenes, does it?

Then, consider the pacing.

One of the things that does seem to matter in scene length and, therefore, in number of scenes, is in the pacing. A fast-paced book with lots of action will probably require shorter scenes, which can create deeper tension. A book with a lot of introspection allows for longer scenes.

For instance, an action-adventure where there is little thinking going on by the protagonist may have four or five short scenes full of action in a row, with a longer scene where the action slows down enough for the characters to discuss what’s going on.

We see that in The Hunger Games when Katniss and Rue are in adjoining trees watching the Careers beneath them. There isn’t a lot of action but Katniss is getting information from the bad guys and the two girls are communicating with Rue suggesting that the Katniss drop the tracker-jackers on their heads. Then, the action starts all over again, and the scenes are shorter for several pages before everything slows down again.

A story with lots of introspection and little action, such as The Shack, uses longer scenes to allow the characters to have long conversations with lots of deep insights. There is action, of course, but nothing like The Hunger Games and so slower, longer, and deeper scenes are necessary to get the story told.

Bottom line: The story needs as many scenes as it needs.

Final Thoughts

My advice is always to quit worrying and write the darned book. From start to finish. Eventually, we have to stop planning and plotting and worrying about it being perfect. We just have to write it.

Then, in the editing that follows -- and I promise that editing will follow! -- you fix the problems and decide just how many scenes you need. By that time, you'll have a really good idea of what the book is about and you'll know what needs to go in it and how the pacing needs to work.

Really, the number of scenes is so arbitrary, it's hard to say until then. But that’s what keeps it interesting!

What do you think is the correct number of scenes? Do you plot out your scenes before you write the book, or do you “write by the seat of your pants” and let it flow? Please tell us about your process down in the comments!

About Sally

Sarah (Sally) Hamer, B.S., MLA, is a lover of books, a teacher of writers, and a believer in a good story. Most of all, she is eternally fascinated by people and how they 'tick.' She’s passionate about helping people tell their own stories, whether through fiction or through memoir. Writing in many genres - mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, medieval history, non-fiction – she has won awards at both local and national levels, including two Golden Heart finals.

A teacher of memoir, beginning and advanced creative fiction writing, and screenwriting at Louisiana State University in Shreveport for over twenty years, she also teaches online for Margie Lawson at www.margielawson.com. Sally is a freelance editor and book coach at Touch Not the Cat Books, with many of her students and clients becoming successful, award-winning authors.

You can find her at hamerse(at)bellsouth(dot)net or www.sallyhamer.blogspot.com

by Melinda VanLone

This is part three of my four-part series focusing on current book cover trends for 2022.  Here are the other two, in case you missed them.

• Book Cover 101: Mystery/Thriller
• Book Cover 101: Romance Covers

Sci Fi and Fantasy often get lumped together in bookstores because they both deal with the fantastical. That said, there are vast differences between the two genres when it comes to covers and the stories within, and even more difference when you dig into the subgenres like New Adult or High Fantasy.

The subtle nuances between sub-genres is a topic for a whole other blog post so we’ll set that to the side for the moment because there’s something far more interesting going on right now.

Old Sci Fi Covers

Back in the “old” days Science Fiction covers used hand-drawn artwork, or simple typography to get across alien landscapes. Fantasy, particularly Epic Fantasy, often did the same thing, but there was an air of magic, rather than an alien world or space.

These covers have changed a lot over the years of course as technology emerged. Now when you see a cover that looks like Asimov’s you know you’re dealing with a retro story. Digitally generated art has infiltrated Sci Fi and Fantasy even faster than other genres, which makes sense. After all, how else can you get robots, aliens, strange new worlds, and new civilizations onto your cover? If they don’t exist in real life it’s very hard to photograph them, and hiring an artist to draw them gets pricey, fast.

New Sci Fi Covers

Take a look at these current covers. Notice the trend toward rich, deep colors. Artistic flourishes on text. A hint of the unusual in either the human (alien) or the landscape. All of the artwork is brighter, darker, more bold, and more vibrant than any other genre.

Digital artists are so good it’s very hard to tell the difference between something generated entirely in Photoshop and true photography. It’s been that way for quite some time now. The lack of good stock photography that incorporates diverse models is simply not as big of a deal for this genre, because they are often creating their model in the software.

The problem for most publishers/authors is that learning how to do that takes a lot of time, knowledge, and skill. Frankly, writers should be writing, not trying to learn a whole other skill set.

But there’s something happening now that I think will change the book cover landscape in a radical way, particularly for Sci Fi and Fantasy.

AI (artificial intelligence) generated art.

There are several companies racing to the finish line with some truly groundbreaking software that will take words you feed them and turn them into art.  The potential is huge. It will make the creation of fantastical art a lot more accessible to those who might not have artistic or technical skills, which in turn will cause another trend shift in book covers as the impossible become possible.

Some Examples

Here’s a piece of art that I generated over at Dream. (https://app.wombo.art)

It already looks pretty cool, and it serves as a great jumping off point for a book cover like this:

I generated that background in about fifteen minutes at the Dream website. This isn’t perfect by any means, and the background is fairly low-res if you’re trying to create a print cover, but I’m sure in the fullness of time we’ll be able to purchase the hi-resolution version of our creations. For now it’s still in beta testing, and there are several other companies in beta as well. In other words, they aren’t done yet.

I could have done this all by hand with Photoshop, but it would have taken hours. Days, maybe. The better I got at feeding the right words to the AI, the more the art improved.

Final Thoughts

Authors in particular might have the advantage here, since we already know how to choose words to create a mental picture, right? One thing is for sure…the artwork generated via AI will be completely unique. Every rendering, even with the same keywords, is different. That’s a pretty cool thing in the land of limited stock photography options.

It makes sense that the speculative genres would use artwork generated by something that’s truly out of this world first. After that, who knows? There’s a lot of potential here, and the software is just getting started. I can’t wait to see if AI-generated art infiltrates and influences the future’s book cover trends.

What do you think? Would you use AI-generated art for your covers? Did you like the modern sci fi covers better or the classics? Let's talk about it down in the comments!

Note: Next time, we’ll dive into Women's Fiction and literary covers. Until then, thanks for reading!­­­

* * * * * *

About Melinda

Melinda VanLone is a coffee addict, a cat lover, and avid writer of stories about rascally heroes and sassy heroines who live happily ever after in spite of themselves. She shares her house with her fur babies and the love of her life, Mr. Melinda, who spends most of his time at home huddled under blankets because the thermostat remains under her iron control. 

When she's not playing with her imaginary friends you can find her designing covers that sell, taking brisk walks around the neighborhood and failing to resist the pistachio muffins at the nearest local coffee shop. Head on over to melindavan.com to check out her latest writerly doings, or hop over to bookcovercorner.com to peak at her cover designs.

All photo credits - Melinda VanLone

by Stefan Emunds

This new multi-part series at Writers In the Storm by Stefan Emunds examines the intersection of psychology and storytelling. Stefan, the author of the international bestseller, The Eight Crafts of Writing, is demystifying the how-to of applying psychology to storytelling to enhance your skills and the readers’ experience.

Why Do Writers Need to Know Psychology?

There main reason writers need to know psychology is to enrich their storytelling. Here are four more reasons:

1. Engagement. Knowing how readers think and feel allows you to leverage that knowledge to engage them more fully in your story.

2. Relatability. Understanding the psychology of experiencing helps writers create story experiences that have a real-to-life feel.

3. Truth. When writers design characters with plausible traits, flaws, talents, motivations, etc., the reader will believe in them.

4. Understanding. Writers need to know themselves — why they write, what they really want to write about, and how to get out of their own way.

The Eight Crafts of Writing

This entire series of articles is written with The Eight Crafts of Writing in mind. These eight writing crafts are:

1. Big Idea (aka theme)
2. Genre
3. Narrative (including POV)
4. Story Outline (aka plotting)
5. Characterization
6. World Building
7. Scene Structure
8. Prose (aka line-by-line writing)

Reader Investment and Engagement

Readers don’t just invest money — by buying your book — but also time and effort. They suspend their disbelief and invest trust, meaning they give you, the writer, the benefit of the doubt that you will deliver on your story and style promise.

They make efforts figuring out clues and blinds, twists and turns, and foreseeing climaxes. Last but not least, they invest emotionally by rooting for story characters and weathering conflicts and tension.

Reader investment is your goal. Reader investment means success.

Your story will be successful if you get total strangers to read the first chapter of your book and hook them enough to read the second. And the third. And so on.

Reader investment means reader engagement.

Creating Reader Engagement

What makes readers open a book and keep turning the pages?

These nine engagers:

• Empathy
• Curiosity
• Tension
• Inspiration and motivation
• Sense of wonder and beauty
• Emotional thrill
• Excitement
• Satisfaction
• Feelings

Let’s have a closer look at the nine engagers.

Empathy

Empathy is the root engager. If readers don’t root for the protagonist, they won’t be curious about what will happen to her, nor get tense when the going gets tough. We’ll cover how to weave empathy in a later article.

Curiosity

Make the audience put things together. Don’t give them four, give them two plus two. — Andrew Stanton

People are curious souls. They wonder how it feels to walk in someone else’s moccasins for a moon. Or in someone else’s high heels for a month. Is the grass really greener on the other side? How does it feel to have no garden? How does it feel to have an entire park as a garden? People read to experience situations they can’t or don’t want to encounter in real life. 

Curiosity manifests in two ways:

• Expectation or anticipation (positive curiosity)
• Worry (negative curiosity)

Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty. — William Archer

Curiosity is an intellectual/cognitive affair. You can maintain your readers’ curiosity by raising questions, in particular, the global story question: Will the protagonist succeed or not? But don’t just raise any question, questions need to come with challenges (no challenges, no story).

The antagonist (the agent of adversity) stands between the protagonist and the story goal. The greater the power divide between the protagonist and antagonist, the greater the curiosity:

• Small power divide: Readers wonder whether the protagonist will succeed.
• Large power divide: Readers wonder how on earth the protagonist can possibly succeed.
• Optimal power divide and story jackpot: Readers are convinced that it is impossible for the protagonist to succeed.

In the case of series, writers give their protagonists an umbrella goal and keep them from achieving it. The Blacklist would end the moment Elizabeth Keen is safe. The 100 would end the moment these guys get a life. Tony Soprano better not succeed with his therapy, and Uhtred better not get his kingdom.

Many screenplays have seven or eight sequences, and each sequence begins with a challenge/question and ends with an answer: success or failure. You can do the same thing with chapters and acts.

You can boost reader curiosity with dramatic devices, for example, with a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger separates a question and its answer with a chapter, act, or even book break.

Tension

Tension arises from the discrepancy between want and reality. In order to feel tension, readers must empathize with characters.

Tension manifests in two ways:

• Hope/anticipation: The reader wants something to happen, for example, that the protagonist succeeds
• Worry: The reader wants something not to happen, for example, that the protagonist fails.

In other words, your reader must care what happens. Otherwise, he won’t worry*, and worry is the big product that a writer sells. — Dwight V. Swain

* Worry = negative curiosity.

While curiosity is binary, tension arcs:

The antagonist and adversity stand between the protagonist and her success. The antagonist and adversity catalyze tension.

Empathy + Adversity = Tension

You can use dramatic devices to increase tension, for example, by:

• Adding various types of adversity
• Raising stakes
• Complicating complications
• Adding unexpected twists
• Adding deadlines
• Revealing hidden agendas

Tension and Curiosity

Tension and curiosity are the most effective story engagers — enabled by empathy.

Ever heard that stories are story-driven or character-driven? Best if they are both.

Oversimplified, character-driven stories engage readers with tension, and story-driven stories engage readers with curiosity. Writers design curiosity with Story Outline and create tension with Characterization and Narrative.

Inspiration & Motivation

Big Ideas inspire and motivate readers. Great stories deliver inspiring what-ifs, morals, or wisdom bytes. What if a vampire hates being one?

A protagonist who succeeds against all odds can inspire and motivate readers to follow her example in real life. That’s the power of narrative. Politicians, economists, and prophets engage in narratives to make that power work for them.

Sense of Wonder & Beauty

You can produce a sense of wonder and beauty with splendrous descriptions of characters and story worlds. Classical examples for the latter are Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.

Ugly worlds can produce a sense of wonder and (dark) beauty too, for example, dystopian worlds and Nordic Noir.

Emotional Thrill

Readers engage with stories because they allow them to enjoy emotional thrill without the dangers that come with it in real life.

You can engage readers with emotional thrill through action beats and conflict-based dialogue.

Excitement

Stories are virtual adventures. What is more exciting than following a heroine on her heroic journey?

Satisfaction

We experience satisfaction when we succeed in endeavors and avert danger. The story resolution delivers poetic justice, and that conjures a sense of satisfaction in readers.

Feelings

Feelings and emotions are two different affairs. Thrill, excitement, satisfaction, anger, disgust, and infatuation are emotions. Love, happiness, a sense of beauty and purpose are feelings.

Feelings, aka aesthetic emotions, are somewhat elusive because, unlike emotions, experiences can’t trigger them. Feelings need to be cultivated, for example, in art or in a relationship (one could consider a relationship a piece of art).

How often do we express unconditional love in real life? Happiness? Beauty? Purpose? Stories are great opportunities to reveal, explore, and communicate feelings.

Emotions sell. That’s why romance, action, horror, and thriller are the leading genres. But readers have become more demanding and desire deeper stories, stories with existential depths that conjure feelings and touch the heart. Many stories that come out of Asia aim at readers’ hearts.

A Word on Conflict

True, there can never be enough conflicts in a story, but conflict is a sub-category of adversity, not an engager in its own right.

We experience adversity on five levels:

1. Physical adversity (storms, droughts, etc.)
2. Natural adversity (predators, sickness, etc.)
3. Social conflicts
4. Inter-personal conflicts
5. Intra-personal/psychological conflicts, e.g. conflicts between thoughts and feelings

As you can see, adversity takes the form of conflict only on the social, relationship, and psychological levels.

Writers craft social conflicts through World Building.

Writers craft inter-personal conflicts through Characterization. Conflicts between people can assume two forms:

• Physical (action)
• Verbal (drama)

Conflicts catalyze curiosity and tension, which are the true engagers. Conflicts make it harder for the protagonist to realize the story goal, which engages readers with tension. Conflicts give also rise to the question whether the protagonist will prevail, which engages readers with curiosity.

Balancing Engagement

How many engagers should a writer use at any given time in her story?

Empathy needs to be present at all times because it enables curiosity and tension.

Too few engagers and your story gets boring. Too many engagers would stress out your readers.

Comparing a story with a cake, make empathy your cake’s base layer, use tension and curiosity to fill it with emotional thrills, ice the whole thing with inspiration, sprinkle on a splendor of wonder and beauty and excitement, light some feely candles, and place an all-resolving cherry on top. Or a lemon.

Thank you for reading! The next installment of this series covers the psychology of experiencing and how to apply that to storytelling.

Which engagers are you good at using and which ones are you struggling with? Which ones do you overuse? Which ones should you use more often? Please share in the comments below.

Note: You can buy The Eight Crafts of Writing here (available on Kindle Unlimited or in paperback) or take the course at the Lawson Writer’s Academy here.

About Stefan

Stefan Emunds is the author of The Eight Crafts of Writing. He writes inspirational non-fiction and visionary fiction stories and runs an online inspiration and enlightenment workshop. Stefan was born in Germany and enjoyed two years backpacking in Australia, New Zealand, and South-East Asia in his early twenties. Prior to becoming a writer, he worked as a business development manager in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. At the moment, he lives with his son in the Philippines.