Make a Scene: The Essence of Storytelling

A dramatic scene takes hold of a reader and insists: Pay attention.

Live here.

Engage fully.

While you’ve undoubtedly heard the adage “Show, don’t tell” and may already understand the importance of dramatization in fiction, developing images and ideas into fleshed-out, vivid scenes challenges us all.

In this course, we will examine the elements that go into great scenes: gripping narrative, revealing inner thoughts, sensory detail, pitch-perfect dialogue, great backstory, and flawless prose.

Each student will write a scene without exposition, then build on that foundation by layering in interiority, flashback, sensory imagery, and more.

Students will come away with a new set of skills for writing cinematic, emotionally charged scenes in fiction, the kind that pull readers into the story and refuse to let go long after the final line.