How to Create a Scene

Creating a scene by behaving inappropriately in public: Bad. Creating a scene by fully imagining your settings and characters: Good!

AI made this map! Isn’t that weird??? I think it’s kinda weird idk

My latest novel ANIMAL INSTINCT is about a woman rediscovering her desire in midlife — it’s been called a best book of the year by NPR, Oprah Daily, and more. You can order it here. And hey, if you do get a copy, DM me your receipt and I’ll comp you a paid subscription to this very newsletter, Writing on the Verge (this gives you access to alllll the archives, which otherwise get paywalled after a month) ✨✨✨✨✨

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I had a weird epiphany this week, which is that I (and every writing instructor you know) always say Show don’t tell! Expand into scene! without really going in to how one shows instead of telling, how one goes about writing a scene. It’s something that, once you’re used to doing it, seems so second-nature that one worries it would be condescending or something to go through it step-by-step. But when I thought about breaking it down into steps, I realized that was actually quite helpful? And a good reminder to myself, even?

Because here’s the thing. As I’ve noted before, it’s really easy to get in one’s head about the abstractions of writing. Thinking about writing can be entertaining, but it’s not exactly actually writing. Often when we’re stuck in a piece of writing, it’s because we’re getting tangled up about what it means or what it’s about, and sometimes — especially with fiction, I find — you really just have to write it in order to truly discover what it’s about. Annoying, I know.