I recently had the pleasure of teaching a fiction workshop on summary and scene at the Pat Conroy Literary Festival. It’s one of my favorite craft elements to teach. I’m including notes from my handout here.
Summary and scenes—and the “spaces” between them— are dramatic devices writers use to maintain the reader's interest. Summary and scenes are methods of treating time in fiction. A summary covers a relatively long period of time in a distilled fashion; a scene deals at length with a short period of time.
What is a scene? Scenes are the building blocks of stories and novels.
“A scene is dialogue and action that take place between two or more characters over a set period of 'real' time.' " –Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway
Scenes slow down the action to a single moment or series of moments, and include action, setting, and dialogue. A scene is distilled—a stylized, sharper simulacrum of reality.
A scene has more real-time momentum than interior monologue or explanation. “Real-time momentum is a combination of action, dialogue, and character interaction with her surroundings and other characters. Scenes crackle with energy and rhythms that make readers feel as though they are right beside (or inside) the character as she experiences any number of situations and scenarios.” —Writing Deep Scenes by Martha Alderson and Jordan Rosenfeld
I had a blast leading a workshop on Summary and Scene with a group of attentive, eager writers at the Pat Conroy Literary Center.
What is summary? Summary is reflection and description, with little direct dialogue or action. Summary narration may give information, fill in a character's background, alter pace, and leap moments or years.
In summary, events may be described and summarized by a narrator or a character. [For example, an adult looking back on childhood.]
Summary takes an event or a group of events and relates the action very quickly, in the broadest strokes.
Sometimes writing moves from summary—a quick compression of time—to scene, slowing down to a particularly important moment.
Summary narration is useful and can be integral to the world-building of fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction. Omniscient point-of-view narrators summarize as witty storytellers.
The power of the “space” between: Scene breaks, or the “space” between scenes and summary, can function the way “fade outs” do in films. Or, to borrow from visual artists, think of the fade outs between scenes as “negative space.” What you choose to leave out can add so much to what you include. Let the reader make the connections.
Time and pacing: Building scenes and summary are ways to control time and pacing. Scenes can increase tension by moving back and forth in time. Your ability to balance scenes (dialogue and action) with summary (narration and exposition) controls a story’s pacing and builds suspense.
Arcs: Scenes have arcs, just as chapters and stories do. Try to begin each of your scenes with a compelling sentence and end each scene with a hook.
Confrontation and turning points should usually not be summarized. These real-time events almost always require scenes.
Conflict: You can begin a scene in medias res—in the midst of action. Or, if you are writing about an emotional showdown between characters, try writing around the argument. Skip ahead. Write a scene after the conflict happened—an hour later, weeks, even years, down the road. Start with the ramifications, the shards of the relationship, the heartbreak, the epiphany after the falling out, and work backwards.
Scene and summary can be intermixed. Summary may be used to heighten scene. Used within a scene, summary can suggest contrast with the past, intensify mood, or delay while creating suspense.
Flashbacks can reveal backstory, but use them sparingly. You have to earn them. The reader must be invested in the narrative first.
Revision: Summary and scene are terrific tools for editing your drafts. Revising is less daunting if think of it as discovering and building scenes, chapter by chapter, while weaving in summary to control the pacing and impart information. You can use scenes, alongside summary, to create stories and novels that have dramatic power and emotional impact.
Learn how to differentiate scene from summary and when to use each—it can transform your work. Ask yourself if your draft makes clear distinctions between one scene and the next. Is there one long summary that needs scenic treatment?
Read like a writer. As you read fiction or memoir, notice what’s “in scene,” what is summary, and the space breaks between scenes. Which scenes are present action and dialogue? How does summary impart information? Are there scenes told in flashbacks? Observe how scenes increase tension and suspense by moving back and forth in time.