How To Make A Great Scene Appropriate for a book?

Read more books yourself to see how others do it.

Reading does help. But honestly -- I don't read novels all that much, and I'm at least a decent writer (or at least I like to think so).

A few basic tips for you:

Show us what happens, don't tell us. It's a basic premise in writing, but don't just list off things and why they are important. A basic example would be instead of saying "She is sad," you could describe what she's doing that makes her seem sad.

Another thing to keep in mind is use all of the senses, something I'm guilty of not doing enough of. Think about real life -- yeah, the first thing you remember about New York City is how tall all the skyscrapers look. But describing the scent of the freshly baked pretzels from the street vendor on the corner is just as important in making a scene seem real. Use every sense you can -- maybe not every time, but try and mix it up a bit.

Also, keep the dialogue flowing, if you can. Don't interrupt it every line with a huge paragraph about how the characters are feeling or what they are thinking. Let them speak, and show us how they react. Also, to keep the lines realistic, try listening to how different people speak. Read the dialogue out loud if you have to, but try and make sure it sounds like someone would actually say.

Granted, I'm no expert, but if you keep these basic tips in mind, they should help you. But again, my word isn't gold, so you might want to take other opinions into account as well.

DwayneA said:

How do I create great scenes in my book?

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You write them.

Write from the inside out, not the outside in. Write as tight a POV as you can get, either in close 3rd or 1st. Let the reader experience the scene from all five senses, not just visuals--smells, sounds, touch, etc. But make sure the atmosphere builds context and adds period detail, rather than weigh the scene down with fluff.

That's how I do it, anyway...

Another thing to consider (in addition to all the comments made above) is your word choice in describing a scene -- particularly the setting/place. Ideally, you'd want to be short but concise and let the words flow smoothly to the next. However, there are a few exceptions (as such is the case in Lord of the Flies by William Golding -- tons of imagery and description in a few parts). Use "powerful" verbs and adjectives where possible (like describing something that is "nice" and instead using words such as "delightful" or "sublime.")

Moira Allen's Four Ways to Bring Settings to Life provides a good overview of settings and a few nice tips for building scenes.

Seriously, if someone could tell you how to do this everyone would be a great writer.

Its something you have to figure out for yourself.

If the scene pleases you, chances are it may please others as well. As for "great" -- it's a matter of opinion, don't you think?

Just write.

Make sure the scene is dynamic, not static. Something happens, it goes somewhere, the plot advances. That doesn't necessarily mean physical action; it can also be something like the revelation of information. In some novels, it can even be entirely internal: an emotional or psychological change. But the movement must be there.

Also make sure it's something you yourself feel strongly and care strongly about. The best scenes come about because the writer really CARED about what they were writing. If you're trying to write a "great scene" and you just feel blah, then it's not going to turn out as a great scene.

Put emotion into it, even if it's just the emotion you feel while you're writing it.

Birol said:

You write them.

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There's your answer...