In this article we will give you the keys and the best tips on how to narrate memorable scenes. Undoubtedly, if you want your scenes to be brilliant, let me tell you, you are in the right place.
There are several elements that we will offer you, so take advantage of each one of them and continue reading!
The keys to learn how to narrate memorable scenes
The time has come, and you are ready, you have the characters, the situation, you know what each one wants, and you have a very clear idea of who will get their way.
Surely, you have a list, where you wrote down what you want to happen in the scenes of your story, one by one, but at the time of reading, something goes wrong.
The situations are chained as you wanted, from A, a, B, to C, but, none of them is special to you, they merge with each other, and you can’t imagine a reader telling a friend at a party “This reminds me of something I once read in a comic book.”
How can you make sure your scenes are memorable? Don’t miss these keys if you want to find out!
Introduce a familiar element.
People live immersed in the ocean of the everyday. Everything that is familiar reminds them of something else. The bus stop, the bus, the bus itself, office work, offices, computer problems.
If your scene includes an element that readers will recognize, they won’t have to go to the trouble of remembering it. They will already have it in their brains.
Likewise, whether your story takes place on Mars or in a magical forest, you can always find something that makes readers feel at home. It can even be a phrase, an attitude, or an opinion of a character.
Why is it that both in the Enchanted Forest and on Mars Base 324, two neighbors who meet by chance start their conversation by commenting on the weather?
The more there is to recognize, the less there is to learn, and the more easily readers will retain what happened in the scene.
Introduce a unique or never-before-seen element
The things we remember are the things that brought us some kind of emotion. It can be positive, negative, or even neutral.
Think for a moment when was the most boring time in your life? Seriously, think about it, have you remembered it? Well, there you have it, a memory, associated with a neutral emotion.
Your scenes will be impossible to forget, but surely, you’re afraid that betting on the familiar and recognizable won’t be enough. In this case, the best thing you can do is to compensate with the opposite strategy.
Put in your scene something strange, unexpected, or even illogical, something that stands out from the everyday or familiar (which you should have already built). Or didn’t you read the previous point?
Use elements out of the predictable
Perhaps the grocer’s mustache is gray, but only on one side, perhaps the town sheriff is in the habit of removing the badge from his chest and biting it nervously, especially when he is thinking.
It is possible that teenage girls enjoying a milkshake are surprised because one of them ordered fries and received onion rings.
Any element outside the predictable, even if it’s not important to the story, will keep the scene fresh, and will awaken a pleasant feeling in the reader, who will think “This typical scene is not like the many others I’ve already seen,” and rightly so.
Don’t write every scene you can think of.
Is your scene not memorable? Then tough luck, don’t write it, scrap it. Throw the paper bun in the bin, or send those bits to a recycle garbage can.
How many scenes do you think you need for your story? Certainly fewer than you think.
Make sure your story scenes are memorable by eliminating redundancies. Start, then, by removing scenes similar to those you want the reader to remember.
No scene is forgettable or memorable in and of itself, even if it seems so. Make sure each scene earns its place in the story.
Merge several scenes into one
The best thing a scene can do, if you want it to be remembered, is to multitask.
A clear example might be the moment when the hero decides to go on an adventure, and also the first time we see the world outside his home.
The emotional vulnerability of the villain, unsuspected until that moment, can appear in the same scene in which he launches his ultimatum to society.
The letter carrier, who gets off his bicycle and brings us that important piece of information, is at the same time the one who convinces the protagonist to overcome his phobia of dogs. Because letter carriers always get barked at.
Readers will thank you for valuing their time by not delaying in several scenes what you could have easily told in one. They will appreciate it if you reward their attention by giving them a good amount of information while they read.
Consult these keys every time you want to make sure of the importance of your scenes. With them on your side, you will not only get memorable scenes, but also a great story!
Conclusion
To narrate memorable scenes, you need the keys to write them, luckily, during the article they were mentioned, you can’t miss them.
You can merge scenes, insert known elements, or unpredictable ones, you decide, but, if you really want to tell amazing stories, take advantage of each of the points mentioned in this article!
