describing them than you do later on, when the reader already knows
who the character is or what the setting looks like. You can often take
your time in these early scenes, describing the setting and characters in
some detail and letting the characters talk a bit more digressively than
they might in later scenes.z Short scenes tend to need less introduction than longer, more dramatic
scenes. You can signal the start of a new scene with something as simple
as a space break in the text or, if time has passed since the last section,
with a simple phrase, such as “The next day ...” or “A few hours later
....” Scenes that are longer, more important, or more dramatic require
more buildup at the start.
o For example, in “The Beggar Maid,” Alice Munro begins
the scene in which Rose breaks up with Patrick with a brief
description of Rose’s walk from her room to Patrick’s
apartment. This description slows down the narrative and
lets us know that something important is about to happen,
providing a bumper between the fast-paced mix of exposition
and miniature scenes that came immediately before it and the
slower and more dramatic scene that’s about to start.
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the emotionally turbulent nature of the encounter, as Rose
storms out of Patrick’s apartment: “‘I don’t want to see you,
ever!’ she said viciously. But at the door she turned and said in
a normal and regretful voice, ‘Good-bye.’” (p. 96)z Another way to transition into a scene is to begin it LQPHGLDVUHV. The
chief advantage of this approach is that it adds energy and urgency to
the narrative. It also engages readers on a deeper level, forcing them to
pay attention to what’s going on.
o For example, the opening sequence of Eleanor Catton’s epic
historical mystery 7KH /XPLQDULHV introduces a character
named Walter Moody, who has just arrived at a remote gold
rush community on the west coast of New Zealand in 1866.
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12 other men, who tell him a long, complicated story about a