I just finished my MFA residency #2 (which means I have 3 more to go), and it was amazing. My mentor is Marlin Barton, author of "Pasture Art" and "A Broken Thing." Also, his co-mentor for the residency was Leslie Pietyrk, author of "This Angel on my Chest" and "Silver Girl" [soon to be out]. Together they are a complete power house of wonderful tips and tricks.
Marlin used a powerful metaphor, at least it was powerful for me. He said, "A good mechanic knows how to fix the carburetor instead of taking a part the whole engine, but a damn good mechanic knows how to take that whole engine a part and rebuild it from scratch. This is also true for writers."
Basically, he said that a writer should know the difference between narrative, scene, and half-scene. Which, I'm not sure if it's just me or what, but I had no idea what he was talking about. So let's break this down so you guys can learn from my mistakes.
~~~
A narrative is a portion of your story that is simply telling the reader. For example a section of narrative in my story "Just a House?" is:
"Memphis Dupree’s luck changed drastically a week before Halloween. Some called it a blessing, others called it a curse, but Memphis called it a job. He heard the stories about the old house; every work crew for twenty miles had different versions. Only one fact remained; ghosts weren’t real.
He thought if he left Savannah there’d be more work. Without a degree, or a house, it was damn near impossible. South Carolina wasn’t the most giving place, but people paid for history. Battlefields, old muskets, vintage train memorabilia. There was no shortage, and Memphis was good with his hands.
"
He thought if he left Savannah there’d be more work. Without a degree, or a house, it was damn near impossible. South Carolina wasn’t the most giving place, but people paid for history. Battlefields, old muskets, vintage train memorabilia. There was no shortage, and Memphis was good with his hands.
"
This narrative piece should always ground your reader in sensory details (touch, taste, smell, hear, feel). The five senses are very important to the narrative. This greatly differs from the scenes because you want the reader to be able to see what's happening.
~~~
A scene is an event or dialogue that unfolds before the reader's eyes:
“I need two hundred,” Memphis said.
“One twenty-five. I can’t go higher.”
Memphis took the train model from the counter. He scoffed, shook his head, and almost ran into the customer behind him. A tall man in an extravagant suit. Memphis pushed his hair back and mumbled an apology.
“You made that?” The man said.
Memphis nodded.
“My grandson loves the one on display. I was looking for something unique for his birthday.”
“This is the place to buy, Sir. Let me show you the newest—.”
“How much do you want?” The man said cutting the registrar off.
“One twenty-five. I can’t go higher.”
Memphis took the train model from the counter. He scoffed, shook his head, and almost ran into the customer behind him. A tall man in an extravagant suit. Memphis pushed his hair back and mumbled an apology.
“You made that?” The man said.
Memphis nodded.
“My grandson loves the one on display. I was looking for something unique for his birthday.”
“This is the place to buy, Sir. Let me show you the newest—.”
“How much do you want?” The man said cutting the registrar off.
Scenes are important because readers want to see what's happening rather than just being told what's going on. They want to know your characters, your places. They want to know your world.
~~~
Half-scene, which you need to be very aware of doing, is when you have a piece of dialogue trapped between narrative pieces:
"The rust colored boxcar was smooth and polished. He had to admit it was his best work. The wood cost a little more than he cared to admit, the metal wasn’t bad, but he was proud because it looked exactly like the model in the museum.
'I’ll give you a hundred, cash.' The pawnshop registrar said.
Memphis gritted his teeth. The wood cost seventy-five dollars; he expected to make twice that. A bell clanked behind him."
'I’ll give you a hundred, cash.' The pawnshop registrar said.
Memphis gritted his teeth. The wood cost seventy-five dollars; he expected to make twice that. A bell clanked behind him."
These are important because this can give a reader more information about a world than you mean too, or can lead them to interpret something that isn't on the page.
~~~
Over the last week and a half, I've learned so much more than I ever thought I would learn about writing. I've learned more about narrative versus scene, and I've learned about being particular with word choices. This is an amazing habit, hobby, lifestyle we have here. People don't understand, but it is hard to be a writer.
I hope you all continue in our shared dream, and I wish you the best of luck. Happy writing.