June 18, 2024 • 30 mins
Your reader experiences your story one scene at a time. Make every scene un-put-down-able.
Great stories are made of great scenes.
Sure, your novel has a clever plot with twists and turns from the first page to the last. But the way your readers will experience that plot is . . .
. . . one scene at a time.
Which means if you want your readers to fall in love with your novel, you need to captivate them with scenes they can’t put down.
How do you do it?
I’ll show you in this episode. I’m analyzing a scene from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo to show you how and why it works—
—and how you can create the same magic with your own scenes.
You’ll learn:
- The timeless structure behind this modern scene
- How every single detail in the scene enhances that structure
- What Taylor Jenkins Reid shares through exposition—and what she leaves out
- How to draw inspiration from this scene to craft an exceptional scene of your own
- And more!
This episode is a sneak peek inside my upcoming Scene Mastery Workshop. In fact, this is the first scene we’ll study in the workshop. Then, we’ll dig into seven more scenes from other great novels.
So if you enjoy this episode, you’ll love the workshop.
Want to master editing scenes this summer? Click here to get all the details and apply »
Links mentioned in the episode:
- Apply to join the Scene Mastery Workshop: alicesudlow.com/workshop
- Ep. 27: Value Shifts: How to Craft Compelling Change in Every Story
- Ep. 42: The 6 Essential Elements of Every Novel, Act, and Scene
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
every single detail in thisscene emphasizes the value
(00:03):
shift.
There are no extraneous detailshere, nothing to bog down the
momentum.
Every single line is carefullycrafted to make the change in
the scene as sharp as possible.
Because after all stories areabout change.
(00:51):
Welcome to your next draft.
Today, we're going to dig intoscene structure more
specifically, I'm going to pullout a scene from one of my
favorite novels and show you howand why it works.
And how you can use it as amodel for a similar scene in
your novel.
See.
Scenes are the building blocksof novels.
(01:11):
Every great novel is made ofgreat scenes.
Of course.
A novel needs a great plot to gowith that.
Something that the reader willwant to read from the beginning
to the end.
But the way that you communicatethat plot is via scenes.
A novel of 80,000 to a hundredthousand words, we'll probably
have somewhere in the range of60 to 80 scenes.
(01:31):
That's what the plot is made ofthe level on which your reader
experiences, the story, a seriesof scenes one after the other,
each one, like a miniature storythat your reader can't put down.
Which means that in order tocraft a great novel.
You need to craft great scenes.
Now if you're listening andthinking.
(01:52):
Wait, I thought we would betalking about time.
You're not wrong.
For the last few weeks, we'vebeen in a series about how to
convey the passing of time in astory.
And I have not forgotten that wehave a couple more strategies to
cover for conveying the passingof time.
But right now, I'm puttingtogether my scene mastery
workshop, which starts nextweek.
And like, I always say, what youhear on this podcast comes
(02:13):
directly from what I am editingevery day.
So I'm pausing the series ontime for one episode.
Don't worry.
We'll get back to that in thenext episode, but today I'm
going to give you a sneak peekAt one of the things we'll be
doing in the scene masteryworkshop.
Analyzing scenes.
See, one of the best ways tomaster writing and editing
scenes is to study really goodscenes from published novels.
(02:37):
They work they're good.
Readers, love them the way thatyou want readers to love your
writing.
And so a major component of thescene mastery workshop is
analyzing published scenes.
We're breaking down scenes fromsome of my favorite novels to
see how and why they work andhow we can draw inspiration from
those scenes to craft excellentscenes of our own.
(02:57):
And in this episode, I'm goingto share my analysis of the
first scene in the workshop andgive you some actionable things
to practice in your own writingbased on what we learned from
this scene.
If you like what you hear inthis episode, and you'd like to
craft excellent scenes in yournovel, Check out the scene
mastery workshop by going toAlice said, though.com/workshop.
And of course that link is inthe show notes as well.
(03:20):
Now.
Let's dig into the scene.
The scene we'll be looking at isthe opening scene of the novel,
the seven husbands of EvelynHugo by Taylor Jenkins.
Reid.
Evelyn Hugo was published in2017.
It's a historical fiction novelset in the golden age of
Hollywood.
As you might guess from thetitle, one of its major plots is
a love story.
(03:41):
And the other major plot is aperformance story.
That is it's about Evelyn Hugostriving to build a career as a
successful actress.
When I say it to performancestory, I'm not talking about the
fact that she's an actress, butabout the fact that she's a
person with a skill and she'sstriving to be successful and
gain recognition for her skill.
And that skill just so happensto be acting.
(04:03):
The novel also has a framestory.
That means that while most ofthe novel is about Evelyn Hugo's
life.
And to set in the fifties,sixties, and seventies and
eighties, there's also a secondplot, but set in the modern day.
That second plot has anotherprotagonist.
And this tolls from thatprotagonist point of view, the
book begins and ends with thisframe story.
And we get a small number ofscenes about the frame story in
(04:24):
the middle.
I'm telling you all of this,because when I look at a scene,
I consider all of the contextaround that scene, too.
It's the context that helps medecide what is important within
a single scene and what kinds ofedits I should make to enhance
those important things.
So now you have some context forour scene.
Let's take a look at the sceneitself.
(04:47):
I highly recommend that youactually go read this scene
yourself.
You can do that for free bygoing to Amazon and reading the
sample of the book.
I'm linking to that sample inthe show notes.
So it's easy to find.
If you're in a place where youcan pause your listening and
take five minutes to read thescene, do that now.
Don't worry.
I'll wait.
Done reading.
(05:07):
Great.
Now here's a quick recap of thescene, just in case you're
driving Or you're somewhere thatyou can't pause to rewrite now.
And if you did read the scenefirst off.
Good for you.
And second, you'll get to seewhat really stood out for me
about this scene.
So.
The scene opens with Frankiecalling Monique into her office.
Those are our two characters,Frankie and Monique Monique is
(05:28):
confused because she missed hername at the beginning and she
wasn't sure who Frankie wastalking to.
So she starts off really thrownoff.
Frankie.
We learn it's Monique's boss andMonique looks up to her and
wants to follow in herfootsteps.
Frankie tells Monique thatHollywood star, Evelyn Hugo has
reached out to their magazinefor an exclusive interview.
Monique is confused againbecause wow, this is a huge deal
(05:50):
for the magazine.
She's not sure why Frankie istelling her about it.
And then Frankie says thatEvelyn specifically requested
that Monique, do the interview.
Monique is astonished.
And so it turns out was Frankiewhen she heard.
Frankie tried to recommendbigger name writers to Evelyn's
people, but they responded tosay either Monique does the
(06:10):
interview or Evelyn doesn't doit at all.
So Frankie starts digging to tryto find out why Evelyn is asking
for Monique.
She asks whether Monique knowsEvelyn.
She doesn't.
She asks whether she has anypersonal connections to Evelyn.
And Monique says that the onlyway she'd have any connection is
if her father who worked in filmdecades ago.
Ever worked on one of Evelyn'sfilms.
(06:32):
Monique texts her mom to seewhether there's a connection
there.
And her mom says that no, henever worked on any Evelyn Hugo
films.
So Frankie shares the secondtheory that Evelyn's people
chose someone with less clout sothat they can control her and
the narrative.
Monique asks why she's tellingher this.
And Frankie says it's becauseshe thinks Evelyn's people are
(06:54):
underestimating, Monique andFrankie really wants this
interview for the magazine.
And then she says, I'm askingyou if you have the guts to go
toe to toe with Evelyn, Hugo.
Monique thinks about it.
Then she says, yes.
Frankie asks if that's all.
(07:14):
Monique says yes, more firmly.
Frankie says she's notconvinced.
Monique thinks about her owndream for her career to be a
great writer, To be the kind ofname that people scramble to
call for these kinds of storiesto rise in the ranks of the
magazine world.
And then she tells Frankie.
Evelyn wants me.
You wants Evelyn.
(07:35):
It doesn't sound like I need toconvince you, Frankie.
It sounds like you need toconvince me.
It's quiet for awhile andMonique wonders if she's gone
too far and she nearly backsdown.
And then Frankie says, okay.
And gives her the story.
Frankie says there is one morereason why Evelyn might have
chosen her.
She might have read a reallyspectacular piece that Monique
(07:58):
wrote a few months ago.
One that showcases her skills asa writer.
And Evelyn wants her becauseshe's good.
They both acknowledge.
That's probably not the reason.
But if Monique does well withEvelyn's story, next time, her
skill as a writer will be thereason that people come calling.
So that's the scene.
Frankie offers Monique, anopportunity to write a story far
(08:20):
greater than Monique's currentstatus in her career should
allow.
And Monique has to convinceFrankie that she's the right
woman for the job.
If you think back to when I wasexplaining the genres of this
novel, you might notice thatthis scene isn't about Evelyn,
Hugo, herself.
It's the opening scene of theframe story where we're in the
present day meeting the framestory protagonist.
(08:42):
Now.
How does the scene work?
I'm going to break down exactlyhow this scene is constructed
and why it's so effective.
I'll show you the structure of ascene and some of its key
features and I'll end bydistilling it into an archetype
that you can use to inspire yourown scenes.
I have a number of episodes ofyour next draft that explain the
terms that I use when I'manalyzing scenes.
(09:04):
Those are the terms that I'll beusing here.
So if you've listened to thoseepisodes, this approach to
analysis should be familiar toyou.
If you haven't listened to thoseepisodes, I won't be explaining
each term again here, but I willpoint you back to the episodes
that go into more detail.
And happily these terms aregenerally, at least somewhat
self-explanatory.
So I think you'll be able tofollow along either way.
(09:25):
So.
Let's dig into the analysis.
The first question I'll ask ofthe scene is what is the
protagonist's goal?
Monique is our protagonist andher goal in this scene is first
to figure out what Frankie wantsfrom her.
And then to prove that she canhandle writing Evelyn, Hugo
story.
A story that has the potentialto make or break her career.
(09:48):
Frankie isn't the protagonist,but we can look at her goal two.
She wants to publish anextraordinary exclusive story
from Evelyn Hugo.
The only way that Evelyn willagree to it is if Monique writes
it and Frankie, isn't sure thatMonique has what it takes to
write an extraordinary storyabout Evelyn Hugo.
So her goal in the scene is tofigure that out.
To find the way to land thisstory and make sure it's
(10:11):
extraordinary.
Monique wants to prove herselfto her boss without stepping on
her boss's toes.
Frankie wants to land anexclusive story from Evelyn Hugo
without trusting that story tosomeone who can't handle it.
So right off the bat, we've gotstrong goals driving each
character.
The second question is whatvalues shift in this scene.
(10:33):
In other words, what changes.
I'm going to focus on the valuesthat change for Monique, because
she's the protagonist.
Externally, what changes forMonique?
She goes from being underutilized within her job to
having a breakout opportunityfar above her current level.
Dead end to opportunity.
And what about internally?
(10:54):
What changes in tangibly insideMonique?
She goes from having the loweststatus at her job to being
treated as though she has highstatus.
Low status to higher status.
And she goes from having lowconfidence in herself to both
projecting and feeling greaterconfidence, low confidence to
higher confidence.
(11:15):
These are great value shifts.
Dead-end to opportunity, lowstatus to higher status and low
confidence to higher confidence.
There's a really clear changewithin this scene.
Things are one way at thebeginning and they're another
way at the end.
That change has an externalcomponent.
Something tangible is different.
Monique has been assigned astory.
(11:37):
And that change has an internalcomponent, A way that it impacts
Monique.
She started off low in statusand low in confidence.
And she's now been boosted bothhigher in status and higher in
her own confidence.
If you'd like to learn moreabout value shifts, check out
Alice solo.
low.com/ 27.
For my episode, all about valueshifts.
(11:59):
Now do you remember how I saidthat?
Evelyn Hugo story has aperformance plot.
Monique story does too.
That's exactly the plot thatthis scene is setting up.
Monique has a skill writing formagazines, and she wants to
Excel at her skill and berecognized for it.
This scene is the incitingincident of Monique's
performance plot.
(12:20):
She's given an opportunity touse her skill that could change
everything for her.
And she has to decide whether totake it or not.
Now that we know what happens inthe scene with the characters
goals are in the scene.
And what changes in the scene.
Let's look at how this scene isstructured.
And to do that, I'll be usingthe six elements of story, the
(12:41):
inciting incident, progressivecomplications, turning point
crisis, climax and resolution.
If those terms are new to you,or you'd like to refresh her on
them.
Check out.
Alice said though.com/ 42 for myepisode, all about the six
elements of story.
And now let's walk through thestructure of this scene.
(13:02):
First up what's the incitingincident.
Frankie cosmos sneak into heroffice.
What are the progressivecomplications?
There are several First Frankietells Monique that Evelyn Hugo's
people have asked for anexclusive interview.
Then we learned that Evelynspecifically requested that
Monique write the feature.
(13:23):
Frankie makes it clear thatVaughn's magazine wants to send
one of their top writers towrite the feature.
And Monique is a young newwriter with no cloud and
wouldn't be considered for thisrole at all.
If Evelyn hadn't requested herspecifically.
But they're in a bind becauseEvelyn won't do the feature
unless Monique writes it.
Frankie asks Monique to confirmwhether she has any personal
(13:46):
connection to Evelyn that couldexplain this request.
She doesn't.
Frankie says that if there's nopersonal connection, they've
probably chosen Monique becauseshe's green and there'll be able
to control her and thenarrative.
And this brings us to theturning point.
What's the turning point.
Frankie asks Monique, whethershe has the guts to take the
(14:08):
assignment.
In fact, I would say the turningpoint is this line specifically.
I'm asking you, if you have theguts to go toe to toe with
Evelyn, Hugo.
What's the crisis.
At this point, Monique has twochoices.
Convince Frankie.
She can do it or pass on thepiece.
Each of these options haspositive and negative
(14:30):
consequences.
Those consequences are thestakes of this choice.
What are the consequences.
If she convinces Frankie thatshe can do it.
The positive outcome is thatshe'll get to write the biggest
story of her career yet.
One that could make her entirecareer.
But the negative consequencesare that Evelyn might try to
manipulate her to take controlof the story.
(14:52):
Plus Monique, isn't a hundredpercent sure that she does have
what it takes.
And if she doesn't she'll bungleher big break, a highly sought
after exclusive feature thatVivana really wants.
What are the consequences.
If Monique passes on the piece?
On the bright side, she'llcontinue to write pieces that
she's fully confident inwriting.
And she won't be at risk ofmanipulation by a Hollywood
(15:14):
star.
But the problem is she'll passup a once in a lifetime
opportunity to get a big break.
She'll be stuck writing puffpieces and a job that is under
utilizing her.
She'll fall short of Frankie'sbelief in and expectations of
her.
And she'll hurt the magazinecause Vivanta won't get the
Evelyn Hugo exclusive.
(15:35):
So that's Monique's crisischoice.
Convinced Frankie that she cando this.
Take her shot at her big breakand risk biting off more than
she can chew.
Or pass on the peace, stay safeand miss out on a once in a
lifetime chance at her bigbreak.
What's the climax.
Monique tells Frankie that shecan do it.
(15:57):
Frankie pushes back.
She won't take an easy, yes.
She's testing Monique and makingher work for it.
So Monique demonstrates herability to go toe to toe with
people in power, by tellingFrankie that since Evelyn
already wants her really.
Frankie should be trying to winMonique over, not the other way
around.
What's the resolution.
(16:19):
For a long moment, Monique isafraid that she's blown it and
trying to prove herself to herboss.
She did step on her boss's toesand now Frankie might pull the
whole thing.
But Frankie accepts her argumentand tells Monique she's got the
story.
She tells Monique to ACE it.
Then she observes that Moniqueis a genuinely good writer and
(16:40):
references an article thatMonique looks back on with
pride.
And Frankie assures her that ifshe does this Evelyn Hugo piece,
well, it will launch her career.
So there you have it, thestructure of the scene.
I'll sum all that up in a quickrecap, so you can see it all
together.
Inciting incident, Frankie callsMonique into her office.
(17:00):
Progressive complications.
Frankie tells Monique thatEvelyn Hugo has asked her to
write an exclusive story on herAnd then Frankie challenges
Monique on why Evelyn would havesent this request.
Turning point.
Frankie asks Monique.
If she has what it takes to gotoe to toe with Evelyn, Hugo.
Crisis.
(17:21):
Well, we'll need to convinceFrankie that she can do it.
Or will she pass on the piece?
Climax.
Monique tells Frankie thatFrankie should be convincing her
to do the piece, not the otherway around.
Resolution.
Frankie gives Monique the storyand tells her that if she does
this well, which she has thewriting chops to do, it will
(17:42):
launch her career.
Do you see how this one scene isa little miniature story?
All its own.
This is what I mean when I saythat readers experience your
novel on the level of the scene.
Yes, they come to your novel forthe entire plot.
You're promising them, but pageby page minute by minute, as
they read, they're experiencingyour novel as a series of scenes
(18:05):
of tiny little stories that hooktheir interest And compel them
to keep reading.
So what makes this scene standout?
What makes it really effective?
What can we learn from it?
I have three takeaways to sharewith you Three things I
particularly want to note aboutthis scene.
First.
The structure in this scene isincredibly clear.
(18:27):
I've analyzed hundreds ofscenes, just like I did here,
both scenes from publishednovels and scenes from my
client's manuscripts.
And this scene stands out to meas a scene where the scene
structure is very clear andevident.
We've got something very obviousthat kicks off the action.
Frankie calls Monique into heroffice.
We have a series ofcomplications, the challenge
(18:49):
Monique, as she tries to sussout what her boss really wants
from her and how to respond tothat.
We have a sharp turning pointthat demands action.
Frankie asks Monique directly,whether she's up for this task.
We have some great interiorityfor Monique, as she wrestles
with her own confidence, herstatus, her dreams and goals.
(19:10):
And stumbles through figuringout how to respond.
We have a stark climax whereMonique takes a risky stance,
turns the tables and challenges.
Frankie.
And we have a resolution.
We're Monique reaps, the rewardsof that risky choice.
Frankie gives her the story andthey both acknowledge the impact
that this will have on Monique'scareer.
(19:31):
There are a few factors thatmake this scene structure so
easy to spot.
First the duration of the sceneis short.
The whole thing takes place overthe span of probably just 15
minutes.
Second, the focus of the sceneis narrow.
It's a conversation between twocharacters.
There's not a large cast or alot of action to complicate
things.
(19:51):
It's very simply that onecharacter has a question for
another character.
Third, both characters haveclear goals with high stakes
attached in opposition to eachother.
Monique is trying to gain majormomentum in her career without
attracting her bosses.
Ire Frankie is trying to land amassive cover story without
giving it to an incompetentnewbie.
(20:13):
It's a 15 minute conversation inan office.
And yet, because the stakes areso clear and so high, we are
hooked to see how thisconversation will go.
And when we reached the end ofthe scene, we can feel how much
has changed.
So the first thing I want you tonotice here is that the
structure of the scene isexceptionally clear.
If you've been struggling to seehow the six elements of story
(20:34):
work.
I recommend printing out thescene and highlighting each
elements so you can see them onthe page.
The second thing I want to noteabout this scene is that the
scene structure perfectlyemphasizes the value shift.
Let's look back at the valuesthat we noted at the beginning.
Dead end to opportunity.
Low status to higher status, lowconfidence to higher confidence.
(20:57):
At the beginning of the scene,Monique is stuck with dead into
assignments She joined avantless than a year ago, so she's
one of the newest and mostjunior writers, very low in
status.
And while she's ambitious andgoal oriented, she's not very
confident.
Every detail that Taylor JenkinsReid includes in the first half
of the scene, emphasizes thesebeginning values.
(21:19):
Here's some examples.
First I look at Monique'sreactions when Frankie calls
Monique into her office, Moniqueis surprised when Frankie tells
her that Evelyn Hugo requestedan interview.
Monique is surprised whenFrankie tells her Evelyn
specifically asked for Monique.
Monique a surprise.
It's a surprise of someoneworking dead into assignments,
(21:41):
someone who doesn't get noticed,someone who doesn't get
opportunities, someone whodoesn't expect opportunities,
someone who doesn't get asked towrite exclusive features of
Hollywood stars.
Now I look at the passages ofnarrative, the thoughts and
contexts that Monique gives usin between lines of dialogue.
Monique tells us that beforeYvonne, she was working at the
(22:01):
discourse, what she describes asa current events and culture
site that calls itself anewsmagazine, but is effectively
a blog with punchy headlines.
And before that she wasfreelancing.
Although she's pursuing herdream of writing.
She's not impressed with hercareer trajectory.
See, how about emphasizes deadend.
Low status, low confidence.
(22:23):
And then after the turningpoint, every detail emphasizes
the opposite values.
This is the realm ofopportunity, higher status,
higher confidence.
Monique's actions reflect this.
After Frankie gives her thestory, they shake hands and
Monique makes sure that herhandshake is strong.
The dialogue reflects this.
(22:44):
Frankie tells Monique that herwriting really is strong enough
That Evelyn could have asked forher on the basis of her skill
alone.
And the details of backstory andcontext that Monique gives us in
her thoughts emphasize this aswell.
Monique thinks back on the piecethat Frankie is referencing.
On how passionate she was aboutthe topic, how hard she worked
to write it, how proud she stillis of it.
(23:06):
And how it opens the door to herworking at vivant.
See how every part of thisemphasizes opportunity, higher
status, higher confidence.
So that's the second thing tonotice that every single detail
in this scene emphasizes thevalue shift.
There are no extraneous detailshere, nothing to bog down the
momentum.
Every single line is carefullycrafted to make the change in
(23:29):
the scene as sharp as possible.
Because after all stories areabout change.
And the final thing I want todraw your attention to is
related to that.
I want to point out to theexposition in this scene, The
explanatory information aboutthe current situation and
backstory from before the scene.
Remember, this is the openingscene of the novel.
(23:50):
So at this point, the onlyinformation the reader has is
whatever information is on thepage in this scene.
The scene is mostly dialogue.
In a scene of 2,195 words, 580,2 of those words are direct
speech.
The words that Monique andFrankie say to each other.
Amid all that direct speech.
There are three sections ofnarrative where Monique pauses
(24:13):
the dialogue to give the readermore information about what's
going on.
The first happens early in thescene, as Monique is following
Frankie into her office.
There, we find out what Moniqueadmires about Frankie and how
she wants to follow in herfootsteps.
It's 145 words.
The second happens midwaythrough when Frankie expresses
(24:34):
her surprise that Evelyn asksfor Monique.
There Monique tells us about hercareer history and why that
surprise is a totally reasonableresponse, even though Monique is
a little bit offended by it.
This is 231 words.
And the third happens at the endof the scene when Frankie is
entrusting Monique with Evelynstory and comments, that there's
(24:55):
always the possibility thatEvelyn really does want her for
her skill as a writer there,Monique tells us about the story
that she's most proud ofwriting.
That's 315 words.
That is in total 690 words ofexposition.
Extremely carefully chosenexposition.
Notice how every bit of thatexposition is directly tied to
(25:18):
something that's happening inthe scene.
It's hyper-relevant contextbecause it's, what's on
Monique's mind right now.
And it helps the readerunderstand how every part of
this conversation is impactingMonique.
We learn how Frankie's wordsmake her feel.
We learn why the opportunitywith Evelyn matters to her.
What do we not learn?
(25:39):
We don't learn any details thataren't immediately relevant.
There are no long info dumpshere.
For example, what city doesMonique live in?
When did she move here?
Where is the Lavant office evenlocated?
We have no idea.
And we also do not care.
And we don't learn any detailsthat will siphon away the
tension from the story andanswer so many questions that we
(26:02):
no longer need to keep reading.
Why the heck did Evelyn Hugo askfor Monique?
Frankie and Monique do notfigure it out in this scene and
we won't figure it out eitheruntil the very end of the book.
It's a mystery, a gap ininformation that keeps us hooked
so that we have to keep reading.
So that's the third noteworthyfeature that I want to draw your
(26:23):
attention to.
Every piece of exposition isprecisely chosen to help us
understand this specific moment,as clearly as Monique does while
avoiding the trap of boring infodumps and increasing the tension
of unanswered questions.
And there you have it.
The three major takeaways I findso powerful in this scene.
(26:44):
First it seems structure isexceptionally clear.
Second, every detail emphasizesthe value shift so that we can
really feel the change thathappens from the beginning to
the end.
And third.
The exposition is preciselychosen to heighten this moment
without boring the reader orsapping the tension.
(27:05):
There's just one question leftand that's this one.
What can you do with this?
How can we take this analysis ofan excellent scene and turn it
into something actionable thatyou can do in your writing?
I'm glad you asked.
I've taken the scene and I'vedistilled it into an archetype,
a fundamental framework for ascene.
(27:25):
I invite you to take thisframework and use it to write a
scene of your own.
Put it in any setting, you likemake the characters, any
characters you like put it inyour work in progress or make up
a completely different storywith it.
Just use it as a writing promptto inspire you and try your hand
at crafting a scene using thescene structure that I've shared
in this analysis.
(27:46):
All right.
Here's the archetype.
This scene has two characters,one of high status, And the
other have low status.
The higher status character hasreceived word of an opportunity
That must be given to the lowerstatus character.
Both are aware that it is weirdfor low status to be given this
opportunity and high statusinterrogates, low status about
(28:08):
why it's on the table.
Low status must decide whetheror not to accept the opportunity
and then convince high statusthat she can do it.
There you go.
That's your challenge.
What will your scene be?
And that's it for this analysisof the seven husbands of Evelyn
Hugo, and for the sneak peek atwhat's inside the scene mastery
(28:29):
workshop.
If you enjoyed this analysis,you'll really enjoy the
workshop.
It's a 10 week course in editingscenes.
And in it, I'll teach you how touse these exact tools to not
just analyze published novels,but actually edit your own
scenes.
Each week, we'll study a scenefrom a published novel, just
like I've done here.
Then I'll workshop a scene fromone of the writers in the
(28:51):
workshop and I'll help themfigure out how to edit their own
scene.
By the end of the workshop,you'll have edited a scene of
your novel based on my feedback.
And you'll be equipped with thetools and process that you need
to edit every scene and yournovel.
If you're listening to thisepisode on the day that it airs,
the workshop starts next week,and there are just a couple
(29:11):
seats left.
So if this sounds exciting toyou, go to Alice
sedler.com/workshop and apply.
And of course that link is inthe show notes as well.
And if you're listening to thiswell, after it airs, but you're
interested in the workshop.
Go ahead and check out.
Alice said though.com/workshopand fill out the application to
join me in the next round.
(29:31):
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand found this analysis helpful.
Learning how to do this wastransformative for my own
editing.
And I love sharing it with you.
Take a stab at writing your ownversion of this scene archetype.
And if you want more like this,be sure to check out the scene
mastery workshop atauto.com/workshop.
That's all for now.
(29:52):
Until next time.
Happy editing.
every single detail in thisscene emphasizes the value
(00:03):
shift.
There are no extraneous detailshere, nothing to bog down the
momentum.
Every single line is carefullycrafted to make the change in
the scene as sharp as possible.
Because after all stories areabout change.
(00:51):
Welcome to your next draft.
Today, we're going to dig intoscene structure more
specifically, I'm going to pullout a scene from one of my
favorite novels and show you howand why it works.
And how you can use it as amodel for a similar scene in
your novel.
See.
Scenes are the building blocksof novels.
(01:11):
Every great novel is made ofgreat scenes.
Of course.
A novel needs a great plot to gowith that.
Something that the reader willwant to read from the beginning
to the end.
But the way that you communicatethat plot is via scenes.
A novel of 80,000 to a hundredthousand words, we'll probably
have somewhere in the range of60 to 80 scenes.
(01:31):
That's what the plot is made ofthe level on which your reader
experiences, the story, a seriesof scenes one after the other,
each one, like a miniature storythat your reader can't put down.
Which means that in order tocraft a great novel.
You need to craft great scenes.
Now if you're listening andthinking.
(01:52):
Wait, I thought we would betalking about time.
You're not wrong.
For the last few weeks, we'vebeen in a series about how to
convey the passing of time in astory.
And I have not forgotten that wehave a couple more strategies to
cover for conveying the passingof time.
But right now, I'm puttingtogether my scene mastery
workshop, which starts nextweek.
And like, I always say, what youhear on this podcast comes
(02:13):
directly from what I am editingevery day.
So I'm pausing the series ontime for one episode.
Don't worry.
We'll get back to that in thenext episode, but today I'm
going to give you a sneak peekAt one of the things we'll be
doing in the scene masteryworkshop.
Analyzing scenes.
See, one of the best ways tomaster writing and editing
scenes is to study really goodscenes from published novels.
(02:37):
They work they're good.
Readers, love them the way thatyou want readers to love your
writing.
And so a major component of thescene mastery workshop is
analyzing published scenes.
We're breaking down scenes fromsome of my favorite novels to
see how and why they work andhow we can draw inspiration from
those scenes to craft excellentscenes of our own.
(02:57):
And in this episode, I'm goingto share my analysis of the
first scene in the workshop andgive you some actionable things
to practice in your own writingbased on what we learned from
this scene.
If you like what you hear inthis episode, and you'd like to
craft excellent scenes in yournovel, Check out the scene
mastery workshop by going toAlice said, though.com/workshop.
And of course that link is inthe show notes as well.
(03:20):
Now.
Let's dig into the scene.
The scene we'll be looking at isthe opening scene of the novel,
the seven husbands of EvelynHugo by Taylor Jenkins.
Reid.
Evelyn Hugo was published in2017.
It's a historical fiction novelset in the golden age of
Hollywood.
As you might guess from thetitle, one of its major plots is
a love story.
(03:41):
And the other major plot is aperformance story.
That is it's about Evelyn Hugostriving to build a career as a
successful actress.
When I say it to performancestory, I'm not talking about the
fact that she's an actress, butabout the fact that she's a
person with a skill and she'sstriving to be successful and
gain recognition for her skill.
And that skill just so happensto be acting.
(04:03):
The novel also has a framestory.
That means that while most ofthe novel is about Evelyn Hugo's
life.
And to set in the fifties,sixties, and seventies and
eighties, there's also a secondplot, but set in the modern day.
That second plot has anotherprotagonist.
And this tolls from thatprotagonist point of view, the
book begins and ends with thisframe story.
And we get a small number ofscenes about the frame story in
(04:24):
the middle.
I'm telling you all of this,because when I look at a scene,
I consider all of the contextaround that scene, too.
It's the context that helps medecide what is important within
a single scene and what kinds ofedits I should make to enhance
those important things.
So now you have some context forour scene.
Let's take a look at the sceneitself.
(04:47):
I highly recommend that youactually go read this scene
yourself.
You can do that for free bygoing to Amazon and reading the
sample of the book.
I'm linking to that sample inthe show notes.
So it's easy to find.
If you're in a place where youcan pause your listening and
take five minutes to read thescene, do that now.
Don't worry.
I'll wait.
Done reading.
(05:07):
Great.
Now here's a quick recap of thescene, just in case you're
driving Or you're somewhere thatyou can't pause to rewrite now.
And if you did read the scenefirst off.
Good for you.
And second, you'll get to seewhat really stood out for me
about this scene.
So.
The scene opens with Frankiecalling Monique into her office.
Those are our two characters,Frankie and Monique Monique is
(05:28):
confused because she missed hername at the beginning and she
wasn't sure who Frankie wastalking to.
So she starts off really thrownoff.
Frankie.
We learn it's Monique's boss andMonique looks up to her and
wants to follow in herfootsteps.
Frankie tells Monique thatHollywood star, Evelyn Hugo has
reached out to their magazinefor an exclusive interview.
Monique is confused againbecause wow, this is a huge deal
(05:50):
for the magazine.
She's not sure why Frankie istelling her about it.
And then Frankie says thatEvelyn specifically requested
that Monique, do the interview.
Monique is astonished.
And so it turns out was Frankiewhen she heard.
Frankie tried to recommendbigger name writers to Evelyn's
people, but they responded tosay either Monique does the
(06:10):
interview or Evelyn doesn't doit at all.
So Frankie starts digging to tryto find out why Evelyn is asking
for Monique.
She asks whether Monique knowsEvelyn.
She doesn't.
She asks whether she has anypersonal connections to Evelyn.
And Monique says that the onlyway she'd have any connection is
if her father who worked in filmdecades ago.
Ever worked on one of Evelyn'sfilms.
(06:32):
Monique texts her mom to seewhether there's a connection
there.
And her mom says that no, henever worked on any Evelyn Hugo
films.
So Frankie shares the secondtheory that Evelyn's people
chose someone with less clout sothat they can control her and
the narrative.
Monique asks why she's tellingher this.
And Frankie says it's becauseshe thinks Evelyn's people are
(06:54):
underestimating, Monique andFrankie really wants this
interview for the magazine.
And then she says, I'm askingyou if you have the guts to go
toe to toe with Evelyn, Hugo.
Monique thinks about it.
Then she says, yes.
Frankie asks if that's all.
(07:14):
Monique says yes, more firmly.
Frankie says she's notconvinced.
Monique thinks about her owndream for her career to be a
great writer, To be the kind ofname that people scramble to
call for these kinds of storiesto rise in the ranks of the
magazine world.
And then she tells Frankie.
Evelyn wants me.
You wants Evelyn.
(07:35):
It doesn't sound like I need toconvince you, Frankie.
It sounds like you need toconvince me.
It's quiet for awhile andMonique wonders if she's gone
too far and she nearly backsdown.
And then Frankie says, okay.
And gives her the story.
Frankie says there is one morereason why Evelyn might have
chosen her.
She might have read a reallyspectacular piece that Monique
(07:58):
wrote a few months ago.
One that showcases her skills asa writer.
And Evelyn wants her becauseshe's good.
They both acknowledge.
That's probably not the reason.
But if Monique does well withEvelyn's story, next time, her
skill as a writer will be thereason that people come calling.
So that's the scene.
Frankie offers Monique, anopportunity to write a story far
(08:20):
greater than Monique's currentstatus in her career should
allow.
And Monique has to convinceFrankie that she's the right
woman for the job.
If you think back to when I wasexplaining the genres of this
novel, you might notice thatthis scene isn't about Evelyn,
Hugo, herself.
It's the opening scene of theframe story where we're in the
present day meeting the framestory protagonist.
(08:42):
Now.
How does the scene work?
I'm going to break down exactlyhow this scene is constructed
and why it's so effective.
I'll show you the structure of ascene and some of its key
features and I'll end bydistilling it into an archetype
that you can use to inspire yourown scenes.
I have a number of episodes ofyour next draft that explain the
terms that I use when I'manalyzing scenes.
(09:04):
Those are the terms that I'll beusing here.
So if you've listened to thoseepisodes, this approach to
analysis should be familiar toyou.
If you haven't listened to thoseepisodes, I won't be explaining
each term again here, but I willpoint you back to the episodes
that go into more detail.
And happily these terms aregenerally, at least somewhat
self-explanatory.
So I think you'll be able tofollow along either way.
(09:25):
So.
Let's dig into the analysis.
The first question I'll ask ofthe scene is what is the
protagonist's goal?
Monique is our protagonist andher goal in this scene is first
to figure out what Frankie wantsfrom her.
And then to prove that she canhandle writing Evelyn, Hugo
story.
A story that has the potentialto make or break her career.
(09:48):
Frankie isn't the protagonist,but we can look at her goal two.
She wants to publish anextraordinary exclusive story
from Evelyn Hugo.
The only way that Evelyn willagree to it is if Monique writes
it and Frankie, isn't sure thatMonique has what it takes to
write an extraordinary storyabout Evelyn Hugo.
So her goal in the scene is tofigure that out.
To find the way to land thisstory and make sure it's
(10:11):
extraordinary.
Monique wants to prove herselfto her boss without stepping on
her boss's toes.
Frankie wants to land anexclusive story from Evelyn Hugo
without trusting that story tosomeone who can't handle it.
So right off the bat, we've gotstrong goals driving each
character.
The second question is whatvalues shift in this scene.
(10:33):
In other words, what changes.
I'm going to focus on the valuesthat change for Monique, because
she's the protagonist.
Externally, what changes forMonique?
She goes from being underutilized within her job to
having a breakout opportunityfar above her current level.
Dead end to opportunity.
And what about internally?
(10:54):
What changes in tangibly insideMonique?
She goes from having the loweststatus at her job to being
treated as though she has highstatus.
Low status to higher status.
And she goes from having lowconfidence in herself to both
projecting and feeling greaterconfidence, low confidence to
higher confidence.
(11:15):
These are great value shifts.
Dead-end to opportunity, lowstatus to higher status and low
confidence to higher confidence.
There's a really clear changewithin this scene.
Things are one way at thebeginning and they're another
way at the end.
That change has an externalcomponent.
Something tangible is different.
Monique has been assigned astory.
(11:37):
And that change has an internalcomponent, A way that it impacts
Monique.
She started off low in statusand low in confidence.
And she's now been boosted bothhigher in status and higher in
her own confidence.
If you'd like to learn moreabout value shifts, check out
Alice solo.
low.com/ 27.
For my episode, all about valueshifts.
(11:59):
Now do you remember how I saidthat?
Evelyn Hugo story has aperformance plot.
Monique story does too.
That's exactly the plot thatthis scene is setting up.
Monique has a skill writing formagazines, and she wants to
Excel at her skill and berecognized for it.
This scene is the incitingincident of Monique's
performance plot.
(12:20):
She's given an opportunity touse her skill that could change
everything for her.
And she has to decide whether totake it or not.
Now that we know what happens inthe scene with the characters
goals are in the scene.
And what changes in the scene.
Let's look at how this scene isstructured.
And to do that, I'll be usingthe six elements of story, the
(12:41):
inciting incident, progressivecomplications, turning point
crisis, climax and resolution.
If those terms are new to you,or you'd like to refresh her on
them.
Check out.
Alice said though.com/ 42 for myepisode, all about the six
elements of story.
And now let's walk through thestructure of this scene.
(13:02):
First up what's the incitingincident.
Frankie cosmos sneak into heroffice.
What are the progressivecomplications?
There are several First Frankietells Monique that Evelyn Hugo's
people have asked for anexclusive interview.
Then we learned that Evelynspecifically requested that
Monique write the feature.
(13:23):
Frankie makes it clear thatVaughn's magazine wants to send
one of their top writers towrite the feature.
And Monique is a young newwriter with no cloud and
wouldn't be considered for thisrole at all.
If Evelyn hadn't requested herspecifically.
But they're in a bind becauseEvelyn won't do the feature
unless Monique writes it.
Frankie asks Monique to confirmwhether she has any personal
(13:46):
connection to Evelyn that couldexplain this request.
She doesn't.
Frankie says that if there's nopersonal connection, they've
probably chosen Monique becauseshe's green and there'll be able
to control her and thenarrative.
And this brings us to theturning point.
What's the turning point.
Frankie asks Monique, whethershe has the guts to take the
(14:08):
assignment.
In fact, I would say the turningpoint is this line specifically.
I'm asking you, if you have theguts to go toe to toe with
Evelyn, Hugo.
What's the crisis.
At this point, Monique has twochoices.
Convince Frankie.
She can do it or pass on thepiece.
Each of these options haspositive and negative
(14:30):
consequences.
Those consequences are thestakes of this choice.
What are the consequences.
If she convinces Frankie thatshe can do it.
The positive outcome is thatshe'll get to write the biggest
story of her career yet.
One that could make her entirecareer.
But the negative consequencesare that Evelyn might try to
manipulate her to take controlof the story.
(14:52):
Plus Monique, isn't a hundredpercent sure that she does have
what it takes.
And if she doesn't she'll bungleher big break, a highly sought
after exclusive feature thatVivana really wants.
What are the consequences.
If Monique passes on the piece?
On the bright side, she'llcontinue to write pieces that
she's fully confident inwriting.
And she won't be at risk ofmanipulation by a Hollywood
(15:14):
star.
But the problem is she'll passup a once in a lifetime
opportunity to get a big break.
She'll be stuck writing puffpieces and a job that is under
utilizing her.
She'll fall short of Frankie'sbelief in and expectations of
her.
And she'll hurt the magazinecause Vivanta won't get the
Evelyn Hugo exclusive.
(15:35):
So that's Monique's crisischoice.
Convinced Frankie that she cando this.
Take her shot at her big breakand risk biting off more than
she can chew.
Or pass on the peace, stay safeand miss out on a once in a
lifetime chance at her bigbreak.
What's the climax.
Monique tells Frankie that shecan do it.
(15:57):
Frankie pushes back.
She won't take an easy, yes.
She's testing Monique and makingher work for it.
So Monique demonstrates herability to go toe to toe with
people in power, by tellingFrankie that since Evelyn
already wants her really.
Frankie should be trying to winMonique over, not the other way
around.
What's the resolution.
(16:19):
For a long moment, Monique isafraid that she's blown it and
trying to prove herself to herboss.
She did step on her boss's toesand now Frankie might pull the
whole thing.
But Frankie accepts her argumentand tells Monique she's got the
story.
She tells Monique to ACE it.
Then she observes that Moniqueis a genuinely good writer and
(16:40):
references an article thatMonique looks back on with
pride.
And Frankie assures her that ifshe does this Evelyn Hugo piece,
well, it will launch her career.
So there you have it, thestructure of the scene.
I'll sum all that up in a quickrecap, so you can see it all
together.
Inciting incident, Frankie callsMonique into her office.
(17:00):
Progressive complications.
Frankie tells Monique thatEvelyn Hugo has asked her to
write an exclusive story on herAnd then Frankie challenges
Monique on why Evelyn would havesent this request.
Turning point.
Frankie asks Monique.
If she has what it takes to gotoe to toe with Evelyn, Hugo.
Crisis.
(17:21):
Well, we'll need to convinceFrankie that she can do it.
Or will she pass on the piece?
Climax.
Monique tells Frankie thatFrankie should be convincing her
to do the piece, not the otherway around.
Resolution.
Frankie gives Monique the storyand tells her that if she does
this well, which she has thewriting chops to do, it will
(17:42):
launch her career.
Do you see how this one scene isa little miniature story?
All its own.
This is what I mean when I saythat readers experience your
novel on the level of the scene.
Yes, they come to your novel forthe entire plot.
You're promising them, but pageby page minute by minute, as
they read, they're experiencingyour novel as a series of scenes
(18:05):
of tiny little stories that hooktheir interest And compel them
to keep reading.
So what makes this scene standout?
What makes it really effective?
What can we learn from it?
I have three takeaways to sharewith you Three things I
particularly want to note aboutthis scene.
First.
The structure in this scene isincredibly clear.
(18:27):
I've analyzed hundreds ofscenes, just like I did here,
both scenes from publishednovels and scenes from my
client's manuscripts.
And this scene stands out to meas a scene where the scene
structure is very clear andevident.
We've got something very obviousthat kicks off the action.
Frankie calls Monique into heroffice.
We have a series ofcomplications, the challenge
(18:49):
Monique, as she tries to sussout what her boss really wants
from her and how to respond tothat.
We have a sharp turning pointthat demands action.
Frankie asks Monique directly,whether she's up for this task.
We have some great interiorityfor Monique, as she wrestles
with her own confidence, herstatus, her dreams and goals.
(19:10):
And stumbles through figuringout how to respond.
We have a stark climax whereMonique takes a risky stance,
turns the tables and challenges.
Frankie.
And we have a resolution.
We're Monique reaps, the rewardsof that risky choice.
Frankie gives her the story andthey both acknowledge the impact
that this will have on Monique'scareer.
(19:31):
There are a few factors thatmake this scene structure so
easy to spot.
First the duration of the sceneis short.
The whole thing takes place overthe span of probably just 15
minutes.
Second, the focus of the sceneis narrow.
It's a conversation between twocharacters.
There's not a large cast or alot of action to complicate
things.
(19:51):
It's very simply that onecharacter has a question for
another character.
Third, both characters haveclear goals with high stakes
attached in opposition to eachother.
Monique is trying to gain majormomentum in her career without
attracting her bosses.
Ire Frankie is trying to land amassive cover story without
giving it to an incompetentnewbie.
(20:13):
It's a 15 minute conversation inan office.
And yet, because the stakes areso clear and so high, we are
hooked to see how thisconversation will go.
And when we reached the end ofthe scene, we can feel how much
has changed.
So the first thing I want you tonotice here is that the
structure of the scene isexceptionally clear.
If you've been struggling to seehow the six elements of story
(20:34):
work.
I recommend printing out thescene and highlighting each
elements so you can see them onthe page.
The second thing I want to noteabout this scene is that the
scene structure perfectlyemphasizes the value shift.
Let's look back at the valuesthat we noted at the beginning.
Dead end to opportunity.
Low status to higher status, lowconfidence to higher confidence.
(20:57):
At the beginning of the scene,Monique is stuck with dead into
assignments She joined avantless than a year ago, so she's
one of the newest and mostjunior writers, very low in
status.
And while she's ambitious andgoal oriented, she's not very
confident.
Every detail that Taylor JenkinsReid includes in the first half
of the scene, emphasizes thesebeginning values.
(21:19):
Here's some examples.
First I look at Monique'sreactions when Frankie calls
Monique into her office, Moniqueis surprised when Frankie tells
her that Evelyn Hugo requestedan interview.
Monique is surprised whenFrankie tells her Evelyn
specifically asked for Monique.
Monique a surprise.
It's a surprise of someoneworking dead into assignments,
(21:41):
someone who doesn't get noticed,someone who doesn't get
opportunities, someone whodoesn't expect opportunities,
someone who doesn't get asked towrite exclusive features of
Hollywood stars.
Now I look at the passages ofnarrative, the thoughts and
contexts that Monique gives usin between lines of dialogue.
Monique tells us that beforeYvonne, she was working at the
(22:01):
discourse, what she describes asa current events and culture
site that calls itself anewsmagazine, but is effectively
a blog with punchy headlines.
And before that she wasfreelancing.
Although she's pursuing herdream of writing.
She's not impressed with hercareer trajectory.
See, how about emphasizes deadend.
Low status, low confidence.
(22:23):
And then after the turningpoint, every detail emphasizes
the opposite values.
This is the realm ofopportunity, higher status,
higher confidence.
Monique's actions reflect this.
After Frankie gives her thestory, they shake hands and
Monique makes sure that herhandshake is strong.
The dialogue reflects this.
(22:44):
Frankie tells Monique that herwriting really is strong enough
That Evelyn could have asked forher on the basis of her skill
alone.
And the details of backstory andcontext that Monique gives us in
her thoughts emphasize this aswell.
Monique thinks back on the piecethat Frankie is referencing.
On how passionate she was aboutthe topic, how hard she worked
to write it, how proud she stillis of it.
(23:06):
And how it opens the door to herworking at vivant.
See how every part of thisemphasizes opportunity, higher
status, higher confidence.
So that's the second thing tonotice that every single detail
in this scene emphasizes thevalue shift.
There are no extraneous detailshere, nothing to bog down the
momentum.
Every single line is carefullycrafted to make the change in
(23:29):
the scene as sharp as possible.
Because after all stories areabout change.
And the final thing I want todraw your attention to is
related to that.
I want to point out to theexposition in this scene, The
explanatory information aboutthe current situation and
backstory from before the scene.
Remember, this is the openingscene of the novel.
(23:50):
So at this point, the onlyinformation the reader has is
whatever information is on thepage in this scene.
The scene is mostly dialogue.
In a scene of 2,195 words, 580,2 of those words are direct
speech.
The words that Monique andFrankie say to each other.
Amid all that direct speech.
There are three sections ofnarrative where Monique pauses
(24:13):
the dialogue to give the readermore information about what's
going on.
The first happens early in thescene, as Monique is following
Frankie into her office.
There, we find out what Moniqueadmires about Frankie and how
she wants to follow in herfootsteps.
It's 145 words.
The second happens midwaythrough when Frankie expresses
(24:34):
her surprise that Evelyn asksfor Monique.
There Monique tells us about hercareer history and why that
surprise is a totally reasonableresponse, even though Monique is
a little bit offended by it.
This is 231 words.
And the third happens at the endof the scene when Frankie is
entrusting Monique with Evelynstory and comments, that there's
(24:55):
always the possibility thatEvelyn really does want her for
her skill as a writer there,Monique tells us about the story
that she's most proud ofwriting.
That's 315 words.
That is in total 690 words ofexposition.
Extremely carefully chosenexposition.
Notice how every bit of thatexposition is directly tied to
(25:18):
something that's happening inthe scene.
It's hyper-relevant contextbecause it's, what's on
Monique's mind right now.
And it helps the readerunderstand how every part of
this conversation is impactingMonique.
We learn how Frankie's wordsmake her feel.
We learn why the opportunitywith Evelyn matters to her.
What do we not learn?
(25:39):
We don't learn any details thataren't immediately relevant.
There are no long info dumpshere.
For example, what city doesMonique live in?
When did she move here?
Where is the Lavant office evenlocated?
We have no idea.
And we also do not care.
And we don't learn any detailsthat will siphon away the
tension from the story andanswer so many questions that we
(26:02):
no longer need to keep reading.
Why the heck did Evelyn Hugo askfor Monique?
Frankie and Monique do notfigure it out in this scene and
we won't figure it out eitheruntil the very end of the book.
It's a mystery, a gap ininformation that keeps us hooked
so that we have to keep reading.
So that's the third noteworthyfeature that I want to draw your
(26:23):
attention to.
Every piece of exposition isprecisely chosen to help us
understand this specific moment,as clearly as Monique does while
avoiding the trap of boring infodumps and increasing the tension
of unanswered questions.
And there you have it.
The three major takeaways I findso powerful in this scene.
(26:44):
First it seems structure isexceptionally clear.
Second, every detail emphasizesthe value shift so that we can
really feel the change thathappens from the beginning to
the end.
And third.
The exposition is preciselychosen to heighten this moment
without boring the reader orsapping the tension.
(27:05):
There's just one question leftand that's this one.
What can you do with this?
How can we take this analysis ofan excellent scene and turn it
into something actionable thatyou can do in your writing?
I'm glad you asked.
I've taken the scene and I'vedistilled it into an archetype,
a fundamental framework for ascene.
(27:25):
I invite you to take thisframework and use it to write a
scene of your own.
Put it in any setting, you likemake the characters, any
characters you like put it inyour work in progress or make up
a completely different storywith it.
Just use it as a writing promptto inspire you and try your hand
at crafting a scene using thescene structure that I've shared
in this analysis.
(27:46):
All right.
Here's the archetype.
This scene has two characters,one of high status, And the
other have low status.
The higher status character hasreceived word of an opportunity
That must be given to the lowerstatus character.
Both are aware that it is weirdfor low status to be given this
opportunity and high statusinterrogates, low status about
(28:08):
why it's on the table.
Low status must decide whetheror not to accept the opportunity
and then convince high statusthat she can do it.
There you go.
That's your challenge.
What will your scene be?
And that's it for this analysisof the seven husbands of Evelyn
Hugo, and for the sneak peek atwhat's inside the scene mastery
(28:29):
workshop.
If you enjoyed this analysis,you'll really enjoy the
workshop.
It's a 10 week course in editingscenes.
And in it, I'll teach you how touse these exact tools to not
just analyze published novels,but actually edit your own
scenes.
Each week, we'll study a scenefrom a published novel, just
like I've done here.
Then I'll workshop a scene fromone of the writers in the
(28:51):
workshop and I'll help themfigure out how to edit their own
scene.
By the end of the workshop,you'll have edited a scene of
your novel based on my feedback.
And you'll be equipped with thetools and process that you need
to edit every scene and yournovel.
If you're listening to thisepisode on the day that it airs,
the workshop starts next week,and there are just a couple
(29:11):
seats left.
So if this sounds exciting toyou, go to Alice
sedler.com/workshop and apply.
And of course that link is inthe show notes as well.
And if you're listening to thiswell, after it airs, but you're
interested in the workshop.
Go ahead and check out.
Alice said though.com/workshopand fill out the application to
join me in the next round.
(29:31):
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand found this analysis helpful.
Learning how to do this wastransformative for my own
editing.
And I love sharing it with you.
Take a stab at writing your ownversion of this scene archetype.
And if you want more like this,be sure to check out the scene
mastery workshop atauto.com/workshop.
That's all for now.
(29:52):
Until next time.
Happy editing.
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