One of the most confusing writing tips I’d heard in the beginning was this: “Does the scene move the plot forward?”
I had no idea what that meant. Really. Move the plot forward?
It’s crucial writing advice. I’ve come to lean on it a lot. But in the beginning, you don’t have the insights to know – “Is this scene crucial? Does it move the plot forward?”
The only blog article I could find on it was one that quoted from a book the author of the article hated. That didn’t help me at all. I couldn’t see at ALL how the scene moved the plot forward! It was a description of plants!
If you ask me, it didn’t prove anything. Maybe it was that one crucial information to that blog author that caused her to see finally what the advice means, I don’t know.
How to know when a scene is crucial
The answer really is, “does it move the plot forward?” Again, that’s something you have to develop insights for. So – how do you do that?
Well, write a lot is one answer.
Let’s try looking at it from another point of view.
Can your book survive without it?
In my first novel, I wrote a scene – very funny one – where the protagonist gets someone to build carts for him. Very technical, very funny, and definitely serves as a template how to survive an apocalyptic event.
Was the scene crucial?
No. It’s crucial if you’re trying to learn how to build a cart that can carry over a hundred pounds of survival gear.
It’s not crucial to the story.
Ditch it.
Another scene, one of the ensemble is tasked with creating YouTube videos on how to survive. I wrote the scene, and it was good character development where one of my characters needed confidence and this scene developed it.
Unfortunately, all it developed was an exceptionally high word count.
Blah.
Ditch it.
Both of these scenes can be accomplished with a single sentence, really.
Did they move the story forward? In other words, did it provide the plot mechanisms that future scenes needed to work?
Plot Mechanisms
Every scene is a conflict.
Every scene also must take a plot device currently in play and use it to develop the plot or conflict – or introduce a new one after an initial conflict has been resolved.
This is known literally as “promise and reward” by some authors. In my novel “The Coming King”, there’s a scene where the young heir apparent to England’s throne survives an assassination attempt at a gathering of Scottish Clan chieftains.
Does it move the story forward? Does it complete a plot device currently in play, or introduce a new one?
Yes to all three.
It causes the current leader of Scotland to re-evaluate the British heir (settles a previous plot device where the leader of Scotland is unsure of whether to support him or not), and sets up future conflict by outing the spies who are reporting to England.
It also establishes the British heir as a master swordsman, something the climax of the book will depend on.
It even ties up loose plot threads introduced earlier on, by the reuniting of an undecided British soldier to the heir, and a Welsh lad who’d befriended the British Heir right after his parents were murdered.
Conclusion
Understanding what purpose your scene serves in relation to the plot helps to show if a plot moves the story forward. If it doesn’t work in this novel, it may work in another! Examine every scene in your novel to see how it impacts the plot. If they can be reduced to a single sentence of dialog, do that! Your scenes must complete a plot device in play, or introduce new ones. Try these keys, and see if it helps you at last to know when a scene moves the plot forward!
