How to Craft the Perfect Scene | On Writing

Go get a great book to help you write and a great book to read here linktr.ee/timhickson stay nerdy! ~ Tim

Would also point out for the Red Wedding, and that first description, it's our first clue something is wrong, in that the musicians are terrible, and we learn later are not actually musicians, but mercenaries, a solid Chekovs gun . And it obviously gets fired before the end of the chapter.

“Setting the scene is complicated” he says, using the 4 move checkmate as an example, the simplest way to win a game of chess, great video Tim just adding standard viewer engagement

I THOUGHT HE DIDN'T DO THE GANDALF MEME ANYMORE! - genuinely made my day within fifteen seconds.

Honestly, this same concept works really well if you’re a DM/GM for DnD or other TTRPGs. Being able to succinctly describe a location and also include details that are intended to catch the player’s attention help draw the players to act in certain ways. If you spend too much time describing the birds then the players might think the birds are important and waste time investigating that. Or describe an important secret detail of a room or a strange characteristic or behavior of an NPC and now the focus is right where you want it, on the real intrigue

24:23 I am reminded of most TV shows where you follow investigators interviewing suspects, they will often be asking questions while the person is working so instead of just standing there talking to each other the suspect will be hauling boxes around or walking down the street. Even though if you think about it that would be wildly impractical and the vast majority of people would just stop and focus on talking, but that would make the scene static and boring.

Ah yes, I hate it when my opponent plays two moves in a row with a check that I then simply ignore.

I'm glad your enjoying the chess metaphor, because watching you move the pieces is about to give me a stroke.

I love listening to Tim while I write. Also, once again congrats on the wedding, Tim! Hope you had fun on your honeymoon!

oh my word. every time, without fail, that you read a passage and i think 'i'd like to read this', i go to look it up. imagine my dismay when i find no results and hear you from the other tab saying it's actually your story! your writing always amazes me, i will definitely be buying A Catalogue for the End of Humanity, i'm so glad it's out!

As a chess player…THANK YOU for calling yourself out for those illegal chess moves 😂

6:42 My man put on his plot armor and castled right into check! 😂 In all seriousness though, another fantastic video, man! This was enlightening, and really helpful. Appreciate it

New writing video! I would genuinely like to thank you for teaching me how to write. I finished the first draft of my book thanks to some of your practical tips. I mean, you actually showed how to use advice! Thank you

By the way, sometimes it's actually useful to put pieces of foreshadowing so far in advance that your reader starts to forget it. One of my favorite series did this, most of the foreshadowing happens near the event itself, but it's meaning can only be pieced out if you remember information given in a specific scene from two books ago. This is because our perspective character wasn't thinking about the information at the time, and if he had remembered it at the time he could've prevented the tragedy that was being foreshadowed. He doesn't think about it, so whilst we also know the information, it was given so far back and in such a way that we the reader isn't thinking about it either, at least until the event itself actually comes to pass, and our perspective character realizes that if only they actually bothered to notice that detail and apply the information they possessed they could've done something to prevent it, but now it's too late.

Absolutely fantastic video. Not only is it filled with great bits of analysis on the importance of relevant scene setting, but also interweaves marketing for your own work flawlessly. This video not only taught me profound lessons, but also made me want to buy your books, especially Catalogue for the End of Humanity. The excerpt from your short story was a perfect example of how you put the lessons you teach into your creative work, something that in my opinion many other youtube "writing gurus" lack significantly.

The chess analogy you went with through the whole video was SUPER helpful! I know I've heard different people describe the kinds of things you covered here, but something about the visual of setting up some pieces (and not others) to execute a specific plan really helped me understand the how and why of what you were talking about. Thanks Tim!

1. Setting scene requires tension, relationship, objects, characters & emotion. 2. Foreshadowing 3. Establish important objects, set pieces & other things. 4. Scenes can be seen as questions and answers. What emotional shifts are set up? 5. Consider the place & meaning in the narrative. 6. Introspection matters 7. Active characters interacting with environment, both physical & mental. 8. Atmoshere = word choice + focused details + character interpretation. Atmosphere can build towards/contrast the events.

Hello 👋 from Ukraine! As a writer myself, I just adore Your content! That's what I needed exactly - when I was doubting and having setbacks: analysis and strategy. Waiting for more new insights. Thank You for Your content 🙏

When I was in middle school I wrote a novella, and although I kind of put it aside until recently (I’m completely rewriting it and hope to self publish it in the next couple years) I did keep in mind the stuff I liked about that first draft, such as my tight but vivid scene descriptions and the little details of character action and interactions. I once showed one of my teachers a page I was working on and she went, “I love how you describe what the characters are doing between the pieces of dialogue.” This for some reason seemed so obvious to me that the comment felt almost condescending but I’m sure she didn’t mean it that way and I do think that feedback was ultimately helpful. Anyway what I’m saying is that descriptions have always been something I’m comfortable writing but this video has definitely expanded my understanding.

Loved this video! Inspires me more to go back to some rough drafts I haven’t touched in a while. A scene I had trouble setting up was an early chapter with a POV that tends to retreat into their mind when stressed out or in situations that aren’t interesting which would lend well to set up the type of bunker they live in. Here’s a sample for anyone who cares to take a look or give some feedback: “At last, generators kicked back on. Ryna welcomed the dull hum that droned through the concrete floors and through her legs. They had been shut off for hours, for reasons still unknown to her, she just knew she welcomed it every time they came back. She glanced up at the ceiling, tracing the paths of metal pipes snaking around and over one another. The latticework snaked across the stone above, spreading all throughout the facility. Each pipe transported its own precious resource and Ryna wondered which ones supplied their artificial air, the occasional ceiling vent jutting out between the gaps. She wagered the larger, duller ones funneled their water − generated from the purification chambers in the basement of the bunker.”