Hack: Creating the Scene

Having trouble setting up a scene?
Have you done a read through on your finished draft and found some dull spots, but have no clue on how to pep them up? 

Here's your solution: Have some fun with it. 

When I'm having trouble setting a scene, I sit down with a pen and paper, then get to brainstorming. Begin making lists of places that would connect to your story, characters, personality, hobbies, etc. You know your characters best. If your story is lacking a backstory, do the same but you can also add other characters and their hobbies, personality etc. 

Once you have 5-6 key words in each category, it's time to narrow it down. 

First, pick your poison. Index cards. Dice. A spin wheel.

Then take each keyword and add it to your preferred method to the game. I like doing the index cards or spin wheel. If doing a spin wheel, write your keywords on small pieces of paper that you can tape and remove easily to the board. 

Next, do one category at a time.

I'm going to stick to the spin wheel for this example. Let's say I'm doing a backstory scene and need a hobby, age, another character, and a place. First I will tape the keywords in my hobby list, spin the wheel, and let the wheel choose for me. Follow these steps for all categories.

Finally, see if your scene makes sense. 

Think real hard about the keywords chosen. Does it make sense? Can you make it work? It's okay to be a little goofy, it can lead to one great scene.  

If overall it works for you, excellent. If not, you can go through the steps again - maybe even changing the keywords - until you get a scene you are satisfied with.