To complement the lesson below, I've linked a few videos.

Watch: Where to Begin Your Story Edit

Watch: Scene-by-Scene Editing

Watch: What is a Scene in a Novel

Lesson Summary

To complement the lesson below, I've linked a few videos:

• Watch: Where to Begin Your Story Edit
• Watch: Scene-by-Scene Editing
• Watch: What is a Scene in a Novel
• StoryTeller Masterclass

Lesson 1: How to Edit a Novel with StoryTeller

The Fictionary Methodology

"38 Story Elements to a Better Story"

One of our early writers asked me: "How will StoryTeller help my manuscript?"

What a great question! It made me think about the best way to explain the benefits of using StoryTeller and how you can become your own story editor. With a first draft finished, it's time to focus on story and structure. Word choice, style, and copy-editing are all important, but if you don’t have a great story, it doesn’t matter if you’ve proofread to perfection. Excellent grammar and punctuation alone won’t sell books. A powerful story will sell your book. And a powerful story is made up of powerful scenes. StoryTeller is designed to guide you through a scene-by-scene analysis of your story using the 38 Fictionary Story Elements.

So let’s start by defining a scene.

What is a Scene?

A scene is a section of your novel where a character or characters engage in action or dialogue. You can think of a scene as a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. A chapter may contain one scene or many scenes. Usually, the scenes within a chapter are related. Some novels have one scene per chapter for the entire story. Others have multiple scenes. Deciding how to structure the story is where your artistry comes into play. Where you choose to start a new scene will influence the experience you give your readers. Usually, you'll start a new scene when you change the point of view character, who is in the scene, the storyline, the scene location, or the time.

38 Story Elements of a Scene

As we go through each lesson, we’ll cover the Story Elements for Characters, Plot, and Settings.

Characters

Most likely you have at least one character in a scene. The character doesn’t have to be a human. It could be a storm. It could be a haunted house. It could be an animal. Whatever "it" is, if you give "it" a scene, "it" must be something relevant to the story. Characters entering or exiting a scene are a good place to start or end the scene.

Plot

Each scene needs a great opening line, an entry hook, a middle, a climax, and an exit hook. Consider starting a new scene when the direction of the story changes, the action is significantly different, or you’re sharing a subplot.

Setting

The scene must take place somewhere. When the location changes, then consider starting a new scene. The timing of a scene also falls under setting. When there is a significant change in time, consider starting a new scene. Watch the 38 Fictionary Story Elements video series to learn about every story element.

The Story Arc

The brain is hardwired to experience a story in a certain way, and it has been this way since the first stories were told. Our short video "Why is the Story Arc Important?" gives you historical proof that it’s to your benefit to follow the form of the Story Arc. Your story will be unique just as you are unique. The Story Arc helps you place your scenes in the right place for maximum reader enjoyment. Lesson 8 covers the story arc in detail.

How Long Should a Scene Be?

Once you’ve got your story structured, you’ll review the word count per scene. The length of a scene affects the pacing of the story. The shorter the scene, the faster the pacing. The longer the scene, the slower the pacing. This, of course, has exceptions. The key scenes in your novel, such as the inciting incident, plot point 1, midpoint, plot point 2, and climax, can have a longer word count and still be fast-paced. The action or key events happening in those scenes will drive the pacing. Keep in mind that many readers use small reading devices these days, and a long scene may seem even longer when read on a small screen. You don’t want to tire a