Scene Stealers with Linda Charles

Author Linda Charles is visiting this week with Scene Stealers! And she has a new book out this month, No Looking Back, Bindarra Creek: A Town Reborn.

Linda Charles has been reading romance since high school. Her reading life started very early, but changed direction after she read Gone with the Wind. She was born in Sydney and spent her teenage years in drama classes, and then taught Speech & Drama for many years.  She still loves to go to the theatre, but her plan was always to write. Linda lives in Newcastle and when she's not writing, she can be found walking, browsing the bookshops or planning her next holiday.

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4 little scene stealers – by Linda Charles

You can almost write your own scene for this one. We know it so well. There you are deep in the fictive dream of your story, you’ve given it plenty of thought and you’re ready to go and write the next scene. Before you do, stop for just one moment. There are a few little things that need to be determined before we start that next scene.

1.    What are the goals for the scene?

We all love the big drama, with powerful conflict which brings on a terrible disaster for our characters. In fact, we get hooked on it. The problem with that is, it can get exhausting for the reader and be a little over-kill with each scene being full of high drama, instead of the steady, scene by scene build up to the final big block buster scene. To help with this, think about goal setting. The goal chosen will have an immediate result, but not be so disastrous or pressing that the character can’t take a little breather.

2.    The angles of the conflict?

How best to raise the tension is oftentimes met with various degrees of success. This can be dangerous because you want to avoid a series of repeat scenes with different settings of ‘what did happen’ and ‘what did not’ and you risk losing control of your story. Keep in mind the conflict should follow logically out of the goal, which you’ve stated, and also from the conflict which has developed out of the goal. 

3.    The disaster at the end of the scene?

When do the results come in for this scene? Is it immediate? Or, a little later, and which direction does it take your story?

Sometimes it’s hard to keep track, and then you find your character changes direction. To keep you and the character focused write down the GOAL for that scene, then write down the CONFLICT, including who the conflict is with, where it takes place, how long in story time and think of a couple of twists/turns that play out, and CATASTROPHE. You can link these issues with other scenes, or not, but they help clarify a scene.

4.    Who’s POV?

This can be a personal choice, but I always like the scene to be about the character that has the most to lose at the end of the scene. It also gives you an opportunity for a hook and time for that character to forge ahead to think about this latest development, analyse what it means to them and make a new plan so they can complete their story goal.

Once you start thinking about a scene so many issues come to mind. For me, when I think of a scene the dialogue comes first and I work out the rest afterwards. I’ve learnt that to have more than 3 characters in any scene can add confusion and you can easily get caught up with ‘he said’ and ‘she said’ as you try to make things clear. Sometimes the setting can be another main element in a story, and not always the weather! It can be a bridge, where you’ve met your hero, or a body has been found, or where the hero/heroine has been cornered – once you start focusing on your scene, you’ll find the possibilities are endless.

Thank you for the invite to write this blog. I’ve been fortunate to be part of the https://bindarracreekromance.com/a-town-reborn/ and have just released the third book in the series – No Looking Back. It can be found on Amazon - https://amzn.to/303nrQW

About the book:

Sometimes it’s good to take a risk…

Hannah McKenna loves working with horses and is trying hard to keep it altogether after her first horse syndication deal turns sour. Since then she’s been careful and played life straight, and has had enough. She runs into trouble when she meets Blake Hudson – the man who put together the failed deal – who rescues her when she takes a nasty tumble from a horse.

Blake Hudson is known as Mr Nice Guy, but there are dark shadows in his past. He’s the dealmaker, the perfect go-between who puts together horse syndications and once the deal is done he moves on. Problem is, Hannah is the exception and he can’t keep away, but fears she will walk if she knew the truth about his past.

He hadn’t bargained on dealing with a mischievous third party called attraction.

When she discovers the truth, both realise they could lose everything, including each other.

No Looking Back: Bindarra Creek: A Town Reborn

Hannah McKenna loves working with horses and is trying hard to keep it altogether after her first horse deal turns sour. She runs into trouble when she meets Blake Hudson – the man who put together the failed deal – who rescues her when she takes a nasty tumble from a horse. She likes him, simple as, and finds plenty of reasons to make him want to stay. 

Blake Hudson feels like an imposter because he knows loved ones would walk if they knew the truth. He’s the dealmaker, the perfect go-between who puts together horse syndications and once the deal is done he moves on. His life takes a turn when he meets Hannah, the woman at the centre of his worst deal. Problem is he can’t keep away, but fears she will walk if she knew the truth about his past. 
He hadn’t bargained on dealing with a mischievous third party called attraction.

When she discovers the truth, both realise they could lose everything, including each other.

Buy on:

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