Mid-Level Plotting. Yeah, it's cool. I swear

Scene and sequel explained by the masters at explaining scene and sequel

Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

Yesterday on the Write Better Now podcast, I talked about Dwight Swain’s theory of scene and sequel. Today we’re going to dig a little bit more deeply into that.

Scene and sequel are part of a scenes BIG PICTURE structure. I call these LOUD scenes and QUIET scenes because I think that’s easier, but basically each type of scene has three parts.

A scene goes like this:

1.     Goal

2.     Conflict

3.     Disaster

A sequel goes like this:

1.     Reaction

2.     Dilemma

3.     Decision

As writer Mike Klaassen says,

“Scene and sequel are two of the most important components of plot, but they also seem to be two of the least understood. They’re an important part of the answer to the question of how to write page-turning fiction. If plot were an engine, scene and sequel would be the pistons powering the drive shaft. Writers striving to turbocharge their writing might want to fine-tune their use of scenes and sequels. 

“Let’s put plot structure in context. On a micro level, plot consists of action and reaction. On a macro level, plot has a beginning, a middle, and an ending. But plot also has a midlevel structure: scene and sequel.”

Cool, right?

Now let’s get into it more.