What is the difference between scene and summary

You should have way more scenes than summary. Scenes are the true building blocks of your story. Summary is the mortar holding them together. If you have too much mortar summary , your building story will collapse. Readers want scenes because scenes are where your story comes to life and readers are transported to the world of your story.

Scenes have detailed description, so readers get to picture the setting, characters, and events. Scenes have action, so readers get to watch the events of your story in real-time.

All of this means a fast pace, tension and suspense, and a strong emotional connection to your plot and characters by your readers. Any defining moments should absolutely be in-scene. Your character makes a realization or discovery? Show that in-scene. A storm ravages the town, terrifying your character? You want your reader to believe your character is quirky, funny, cruel, stubborn, hot-headed, kind, or any other trait? Show it in-scene. Is there conflict or an obstacle? The final battle between good and evil is happening?

That better be in-scene. If you want to develop believable, fleshed out, three-dimensional, well-rounded characters, you need to show your characters different facets through scenes. If you want to craft a page-tuner, fast-paced story that drives forward, you need to put action, conversations, and events in scenes. He was short and heavy and moved with peculiar slowness, even torpor. The man with the shotgun opened the gate and sauntered along the line of tellers, handing each of them a Hefty bag.

When he came to the empty position he looked over at the man with the pistol, who said, "Whose slot is that? Anders watched the teller. She put her hand to her throat and turned to the man she'd been talking to.

He nodded. Bright boy! Did I tell you to talk? Do you feel the tension of this moment? All of these emotions and details are present and believable because Wolff shows them through scene. What if Wolff had instead written:. The head robber ordered the bank staff to let his partner in the back.

She was afraid. Anders made a funny comment about the situation, making the robber angry. This paragraph is a summary of the scene. It tells the reader what happened. Notice how it lacks emotion, character details and development, and the same amount of tension. This is boring compared to the scene. You want to summarize the boring or transitional. Need to show the passage of time? Use a summary phrase or sentence. As if to let him know that he was among friends now and could relax.

But when they asked him again whether he took the money, he refused to speak. They told him it was foolish not to name the thief. But Ove stuck to his guns. Ove shook his head. The Opel Manta man nodded with understanding. This is just a formality, Ove. No one in here believes you took the money. All you need to do is tell us who did it. Ove looked down at the floor. Half a minute passed. The harsh voice of the director broke the silence at long last. Ove stood in silence. Looking down at the floor.

The facial expression of the men in suits shifted from conviction to slight confusion. Did you take the money? Ove looked up. Stood there with a straight back. The room was steeped in silence for what must have been several minutes. The director scrutinized him, as if he were a bluffer in a game of cards. The director nodded grimly. And Ove left.

It takes a unit of conflict and renders it with sensory, concrete detail, and allows the reader to watch the events unfold at roughly the same pace as the character. Though longer than the summary and the half-scene, this scene actually moves the fastest, I would argue.

By going in close, the author—in this case, Fredrik Backman—allows us to feel more tension and consequence from the interaction.

Scenes tend to be much better at delivering tension and insight into character. Summary is occasionally necessary. Even within a scene, you will have a few sentences of summary peppered in here and there.

Not everything in a story deserves the closer scrutiny delivered by scene depiction. But with each new revision of your story, you need to be more and more intentional about what you depict as scene, half-scene, or summary. Is there anything in summary that should be depicted in scene? The example above is clearly not a scene. We are not in a particular time or place. We are simply being told things about the Sinclair family.

It is quite compelling, and it sets the tone of the novel to come. Of course, we will want a scene soon, but this summary is whetting our appetite nicely. In all likelihood, your novel will be a collection of scenes held together by short sections of summary. And there may also be short bits of summary within your scenes as well. You should use scenes to show us the crucial moments of your story: moments of conflict, decision, action, emotion, revelation, and change.

I would argue, the closer the better. The goal is to finish the first draft before the new baby comes — wish me luck! What about you? Do you find yourself writing unnecessary scenes? Or telling instead of showing? Is your WIP a healthy mix of summary and scene?

Leave a comment below! When I outline, I break the plot into scenes. I think I like your breakdown better. Great article, Eva. Good luck with your novel. Your email address will not be published. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Scene: I open my eyes to see light coming in through my blinds. Are you ready?