James Austin McCormick | On Writing Scene Charges

Since I started writing over twenty year ago I’ve always favoured escapist, action driven speculative fiction; sci-fi, horror and dark fantasy. For me the thrill is trying to mix these genres, creating entirely new settings and characters and throwing them into impossible situations. My three Dragon books (DRAGON, DRAGON: SMUGGLER TALES and DRAGON: THE TOWER OF TAMERLANE) are perfect examples of these.

Yet action for action’s sake quickly grows tedious as the reader becomes
inured to it. If you
don’t have the reader’s empathy you have nothing. The question therefore is
how can you keep
your audience hooked rather than simply giving them whiplash?

To answer this I’d like to share with you the idea of scene charges, something I learnt from the art of script-writing. The idea is very simple, every extended scene you write must have an emotional reversal of some kind, from positive to negative or from negative to positive. If everything is going well for your protagonist at the beginning of the scene it must turn bad by the end, and if the scene starts badly then it must end on a positive note. These changes are usually not major ones. They focus on incidents within a scene rather than a resolution of the overall story arc and by including charges in your writing you will keep things fresh and hook your reader as you play yo-yo with their emotions. I use plus and minus signs to denote the charge. Here is an example of the first few scenes from my sci-fi novella SUNFALL. SUNFALL is a story about a hapless smuggler (Zac Adams) who gains a shot at redemption by helping a young scientist trying to save the lives of millions of Martian colonists. This breakdown covers the first fifteen pages or so. I use the term inciting incident in the last section to denote the event that kick starts the main plotline.

-     +	Zac is refused entry to a space port BUT bribes his way in.
+     -	He docks his ship but is prosecuted for carrying contraband. His ship is seized.
-     +	His ship is about to be taken away but he manages to negotiate a fine.
+     -	His proposal is accepted but a petty official interferes and gives him a mere 24 hours to pay the massive fine.
+     -	Zac manages to sneak into his ‘sealed’ ship, remove his cargo and deliver it to his client. His client decides it’s easier to try and kill him than pay him. Zac barely escapes.
-     + The Inciting Incident	On the run, Zac encounters a rich girl desperate to get off Earth and get to Mars. She offers him enough money to pay Zac’s fine and even get him out of the smuggling business entirely. Zac accepts.

Okay, it’s hardly Shakespeare, I know, nor do I claim to write anything but
pulp style speculative
fiction, but you get the idea.

I should also point out that scenes charges work in all types of genres as
it allows you to analyse
what the tensions are in any scenes and how to keep the rhythm and pacing
throughout your work.

GIVEAWAY

Have you ever heard of scene charges? What's your thoughts? Leave a comment below and be entered for a chance to win a copy of SUNFALL.

About James Austin McCormick

James Austin McCormick is a college lecturer from England and a fan of all types of speculative fiction, most notably science fiction, horror & sword and sorcery fantasy. Where possible he tries to blend these elements together.

McCormick lives in the rainy city of Manchester with his wife and two young
daughters, the elder of
which is something of a budding writer herself.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Blog

About DRAGON: THE TOWER OF TAMERLANE

After the death of the Tuolon Ambassador Lagua and the failure to bring the non-humanoid worlds into the Alliance, Sillow and Brok’s long partnership is finally at an end. Now a reluctant solo agent, Sillow is called upon to undertake his first mission, investigate the Tower, a high- tech prison complex along with the oligarch who runs it, a mysterious nobleman who calls himself Tamerlane.

Seeking evidence to prove Tamerlane is responsible for a series of terrorist
attacks, Sillow
quickly uncovers the sheer scale of his plans, a lethal military strike on
all four humanoid home
worlds.

Caught and imprisoned however, the Sylvan finds himself helpless to warn the
Alliance of the coming
danger. All the while, something has been evolving, growing stronger inside
the Tower, something
intangible yet far more dangerous than Tamerlane ever could be, a being
implacably opposed to all
life in the galaxy.

And only Sillow has any chance of stopping it.

Comments

10 comments posted.

Re: James Austin McCormick | On Writing Scene Charges

Interesting. I have never heard of scene charges. My mother is a romance author and I have watched her sketch out a book, but never with scene charges. Thanks for the information!
(Amy Morgan 9:49am September 24, 2015)

Now that you've taken the example, and printed it out in black
and white, I can see where scene charges are used in other
genres as well, such as Romance. There are times where it's
not used, and that's in memoirs, because not all auto-
biographies have a happy ending. However, the majority of
genres seem to follow your example, and it was a good one to
follow when writing, so I'll have to remember it. I haven't
had the pleasure of reading any of your books. For personal
reasons I was out of the reading loop for a few years, and have
gotten back in a while back, catching up with who is out there,
and the different genres and so forth. The book you wrote does
sound interesting, and I've put it on my TBR list, even though
it's not a book I'd normally read. If I can't get into the
story, which I hope isn't the case, I have a Husband who is a
big sci-fi freak, and inhales books, so I know he'd love it!!
Congratulations on your latest book, and I'm sure it will do
well!!
(Peggy Roberson 9:58am September 24, 2015)

No I have not heard of scene change.
(Marissa Yip-Young 10:05am September 24, 2015)

Since I am in no way a writer, just a reader, scene charges are a new concept for me. Now I will probably be watching for them!
(Matthew Burkhead 1:22pm September 24, 2015)

Scene charges...was interested to read about it. Would
certainly keep the story interesting.
(G. Bisbjerg 2:32pm September 24, 2015)

I haven't heard of scene change before, but it seems to be
something inherent in all plotting. For most readers, it
exists under the radar, and this is the first time that
I've seen the idea vocalized.
(Deb Philippon 11:07am September 25, 2015)

every trade has tools, it makes perfect sense yours should,
too.
(Dagmar Finch 5:02pm September 25, 2015)

don't think so but sounds good
(Debbi Shaw 8:52pm September 26, 2015)

I'd love to win the book.
(Dagmar Finch 8:56pm September 26, 2015)

Never heard of scene charges but would still love to read your books
(Trish Wakeman 11:29pm September 26, 2015)

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