How to Craft the Perfect Scene | On Writing

A CATALOGUE FOR THE END OF HUMANITY
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ON WRITING AND WORLDBUILDING VOLUME 3
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A CATALOGUE (ebook)

VOLUME 3 (ebook)

[MasonMakesStuff]

“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

[ryzigg]

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

[Scuzzlebutt]

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.

[fakjbf]

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.

[tylerwebb]

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

[RainTheHateINC]

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

[donovan]

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

[whatever]

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

[phuongpenca]

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!

[khadijahkhalid]

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

[MrXiminoes]

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.

[IxAMxSamurai]

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!

[lucyla]

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.

[ShadowProject]

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

[AlexFrost-cx]

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!

[PostiveCynic]

Highlights
💡 Setting the scene is more than just describing the environment.
💡 Foreshadowing and establishing atmosphere are important aspects of scene setting.
💡 Active character engagement with the environment adds immersion to the scene.

[insanemakaioshin]

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.

[AnastasiyaAidyna]

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 🙏

[ChaseBuck]

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.”

[vaboston]

In the opening to my novel, I decided to do what no one is supposed to and described the lovely weather and setting. The focus, though, shifts to the MC's love for the place, an emotional tie that is important for the climax of the story. At the same time, cracks appear in the idyllic setting: storms earlier that year that caused severe fire damage to her town, people are concerned about what to do when the traveling merchants come through after all the damage, and her town sits close to a forest that's known to be enchanted. These elements are pretty minor as far as plot events go (they do play a part, but they aren't the main focus), but they are the setting in which the mask finally falls off and the inciting incident occurs. I don't think many would be surprised by the flip in atmosphere that happens halfway through chapter 1, due to the cracks that have been shown already throughout the first half. Rather, a single character who fully lives in the mask is the one who is surprised as the lovely life he thinks he lives and projects to everyone else turns out to be built on volcanic pain that erupts by the end of chapter 1.