Scene & Sequel
a craft workshop for genre authors
- Format: available in lengths from one to six hours.
- Technical requirements: projector/screen if available.
Class Blurb:
SCENE & SEQUEL: the rhythm of fiction with Damon Suede
This workshop is a hard look at the bones of bestselling fiction based on Dwight Swain's revolutionary approach to storytelling. Whether you call it “scene and sequel” or “action and reaction,” this basic storytelling pattern allows you to pace your plot, escalate your action, and find your story’s heat and flow with a clear structural strategy that simplifies the process of planning, drafting, and revising your book.
Class Description:
Scene and Sequel is a practical workshop about structuring the events of your story for maximum suspense and maximum emotional impact. In this session we’ll explore:
- the neurological roots of popular entertainment
- techniques for situating story points for escalation and payoff.
- the ways scene and sequel can amp your revisions, shortening and strengthening the process.
- structural tricks and traps especially the recurring pitfalls that can gum up the works sif you aren't paying attention.
Scene and Sequel offers one of the simplest and most potent narrative tools to add punch and flow to any story. You’ll leave this class with a handle on a clear structural strategy that simplifies the challenge of planning, drafting, and revising your book.
Takeaways:
- granular Motivation-Reaction technique to ramp up signifant story beats
- a Scene/Sequel recipe that allows you to plot an entire book without knowing the ending in advance (if that's your jam).
- a checklist of structural traps that bedevil genre plots.
- exercises to elevate your narrative fireworks and emotional payoffs.
Presentations:
- "Rethinking Scene & Sequel" workshop for Free Expressions in Tampa, FL (March 2024)
- "Story Chain" workshop for PNWA in Seattle, WA (September 2023)
- "Scene & Sequel" workshop for Romance Writers Online (January 2022)
- "Scene & Sequel" workshop for PNWA Conference in Seattle, WA (September 2021)
- "Scene & Sequel" masterclass for Stockholm Writers Festival in Stockholm, Sweden (May 2021)
- "Scene & Sequel" masterclass at Romance Writers of New Zealand Conference in Auckland, NZ (August 2018)
- "Scene & Sequel" for the Rhode Island Romance Writers Retreat in Proividence, RI (June 2018)
- "Scene & Sequel" for San Antonio Romance Authors in San Antonio, TX (February 2018)
- "Scene & Sequel" for Long Island RWA in South Huntingdon, NY (September 2017)
- "Scene & Sequel" at the Bristol Romance and Suspense Workshop 2017 in Bristol, UK (November 2017)
- "Scene & Sequel" for Fiction Fest Conference in Norwalk, CT (September 2017)
- "Scene & Sequel" for Dreamspinner Author Weekend in Orlando, FL (March 2016)
- "Scene & Sequel" for West Houston RWA in Houston, TX (February 2016)
- "Scene & Sequel" for RT Boot Camp (Each May, 2012-2018)
Recommended reading:
-
Martha Alderson & Jordan Rosenfeld - Writing Deep Scenes: Plotting Your Story Through Action, Emotion, and Theme
-
James Scott Bell – Plot & Structure
-
Jack Bickham – Scene & Structure
-
Jane K. Cleland - Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories That Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats
-
Lisa Cron - Wired for Story: the Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence
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Les Edgerton - Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go
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Raph Koster - A Theory of Fun for Game Design
-
Elizabeth Lyon - Manuscript Makeover: Revision Techniques No Fiction Writer Can Afford to Ignore
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Scott McCloud - Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
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Paula Munier - Plot Perfect: How to Build Unforgettable Stories Scene by Scene
-
Jordan Rosenfeld - Make a Scene: Crafting a Powerful Story One Scene at a Time
-
Dwight V. Swain -
Techniques of the Selling Writer
- also his fantastic Master Writing Teacher audio classes
If you'd like to book
Damon to come present a workshop for your group or chapter,
just give a holler.