Writing Deep Scenes: Plotting Your Story Through Action, Emotion, and Theme

I got this book to help with the second revision of my WIP. I appreciate the thorough treatment the authors give to each layer of story – emotion, action, and theme – and each section of story progression, punctuated by the “energetic markers.”Deep Scenes starts with a quick review on plot structure, describing the function and makeup of each energetic marker (which, before reading Deep Scenes, I knew as “disasters” – first disaster, second disaster, etc). It follows with explaining different types of scenes, and then the rest of book walks through how each layer (emotion, action, and theme) comes through in each section.What I found most helpful:Deep Scenes uses examples from books to illustrate the different aspects of story crafting. Not all of the examples were totally obvious in their use of devices, which meant I had to read closely and consider the elasticity of concepts across different genres and stories. I think this helps the writer understand the principles that Alderson and Rosenfeld are trying to get across, rather than falsely latching onto a prescriptive practice. Application of the principles in Deep Scenes is going to vary, depending on the writer, the story, and the genre.Deep Scenes is also easy to read. It’s very structured, which makes for quick reference during the revision process. I find myself flipping back to chapter summaries and sections I’ve bookmarked while I’m revising.I was a little concerned before reading Deep Scenes that it was going to be over my head or too ethereally inapplicable, especially since I haven’t studied creative writing in an academic context. What I found was a thorough and practical explanation of how scenes serve the greater plot of a story. It’s accessible and helpful, and a book I would recommend any fiction writer who wants to weave purpose and meaning into each scene of their story.

This book was recommended for me after attending the San Francisco Writer's Conference and after reading it and avidly taking notes, I can say that this is definitely one of the most helpful, most specific books about writing out there. After a quick review of action, emotion, and theme, Alderson and Rosenfeld break down each of these three aspects of a manuscript into four different sections: one for the beginning, two for the middle, and one for the end. Then, the authors fixate on action, emotion, and theme with regards to these sections and explain what sort of scenes best fit them, and how to properly balance action and emotion to create and eventually identify overall themes. In addition to this, the authors use excellent examples in current and classic literature (everything from Winter's Bone to the Great Gatsby) to show how these authors have successfully attributed a great balance of action, emotion, and theme at various points in their novels.Something else that I didn't expect to find in this novel was perhaps the best explanation of "show, don't tell" that I've ever seen. Most of us have been told this in our writing (or at least most of us in the demographic that would be buying this book), and, if you're like me, you nod your head while waiting for a better, more detailed explanation. Alderson and Rosenfeld actually explain this common problem with a far better saying:"demonstrate, don't lecture," and then give clear, concise examples that have clarified this for me more than any lecturer, agent, or English teacher ever could.So if you're a first time reader, looking to join us in the craft, or a bestseller, and don't mind pronoun switches (and really, why would you?), I would strongly recommend buying Writing Deep Scenes. The vast improvement in my manuscript was definitely worth the price.

This book is loaded with information. I will study the information and come back to my review. I have a good feeling.

I would like to see more scene types here, but this book gets the job done. One of the better I’ve ever read.

I consider myself an intermediate writer, and I found this book extremely helpful in more ways than one. Yes, it discusses how to craft individual scenes--which elements a scene needs, how to identify problems with scenes, common types of scenes and how to write them, etc. But for me, the biggest benefit had to do with plot structure. The book gives you a basic plot formula, then goes in depth into each segment of it. By the time I finished it, the formula was not only ingrained in my head, but it made a lot more sense than when I'd read about the same formula in a different book. This book gives you the essential tools to craft a compelling plot AND a compelling character arc.That said, it's a long book and it can get a little dry at times. The first time I read it, I didn't feel like the material really sank in. About a year later, I went back to it and read the whole thing again, this time taking detailed notes. The second time it really clicked, and it completely changed how I approach my writing. Highly recommend for anyone who's trying to outline a novel or do a big-picture revision.

I bought The Plot Whisperer and love it. It's how I plot all of my stories. I thought this book would be a great companion to it, I had a hard time even getting through this book to do the exercises. Don't get me wrong - it's chock full of information. But I found myself skimming the words and looking for the a-ha moments of information.

How did they make this helpful book so clear? The components of writing great scenes are laid out logically and now we can look and see if we've got them in our own scenes. There's nothing mushy about the instructions, and no way we can be content just to poke and titillate our readers. The result of this Writing Deep Scenes will be deeper, more satisfying scenes! Writing will improve. Poor writing will go down the drain of low ratings.The examples are great! I especially loved the ones from Dickens, and just in case one has not read Tale of Two Cities, care was taken not to include spoilers.Every word counts here! My second reading is being done pen in hand. Get ready for some serious rewriting of whatever you're working on.

Happy with it.

I tried for ages to try to find a way stop my writer competitors reading this magic book, but I couldn't. It's actually rather brilliant, but please don't read it, please.

Review to follow

I've studied writing for close to a decade now and I was hoping for some new, worthwhile information from this book. Maybe I developed an unrealistic expectation about "deep scenes", but what this book provides isn't anything new to what I've read dozens of other times.That's not to say it's a bad book. It is a solid book, well written, with good information. But if you've studied scene structure for a while, then you're not going to discover anything new here.The book is divided into four sections: The Basics, Action, Emotion, Theme.It looks at the Three Act structure: the Beginning, the Middle (which is divided into the Emerging Middle and Deeper Middle), and the End through the three important elements of a scene - action, emotion, and theme - and analyzes how various scene types work within the action, emotion and theme. That is, it looks at outward action (action), inward action/enlightenment (emotion), and the deeper messages expressed through symbols, objects, phrases, etc. (theme), and looks at how setting, supporting characters and antagonistic forces, motivation, and character actions enhance these elements in a scene.While everything discussed is standard, they do offer some great passages from various novels as examples.I did find the Theme section of interest and helpful, as theme is something I generally overlook when writing. And even though I didn't find much new information, it was good to go over the material again - because it never hurts to re-learn what you've learned - and contemplate scene structure. So I did take a few things away from the book.All in all, it's a solid book for beginners, but if you're studied on the elements of novel writing and are looking for advanced knowledge, save this one for later.