Connect your scene with readers
Photography + scenes = connection
Writing your scenes like a photograph creates connection.
Memories connect us to people, places, and events.
A photograph connects those people, places, and events.
Remember that thick cardigan Auntie knitted for Tommy? How he loved wearing it even in the summertime when it was ninety degrees? How Mother tried to pull him from the swimming pool so that she could pull the sweater off of him? He’d have none of that.
Or how about the time George proposed to Mary in the middle of the street, and Grandma snapped the photo—just as a big pink bus drove past, with the slogan “Give yourself some love.”
Photos—funny, serious, lame, intense, joyous—trigger the memory an event holds for us. Photos capture the person’s personality, the wild beauty of that place, or the humorous outtake of the event.
The next time you are working on your scene, maybe these 3 things will help as you’re crafting the story on the page:
Show your character’s personality. How do they interact with the other characters?
Describe the setting in a way that evokes emotion.
Use only the details of an event to propel your character’s arc forward.
And see how that connects your readers to the lives of your characters.
