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The first time I wrote my scene I got to a specific part and just couldn't continue. I knew what I wanted/had planned to write, but it just didn't come out. The second and third time I sat down to work on it, I had the same problem - just staring into the void for hours, unable to write. (This should probably have been a warning sign..)
I finally managed to force myself to write it out - and it doesn't work (duh.). So I tried changing the subject matter of the dialogue, thinking that might be the issue, and it still doesn't work.
And I don't know what to do now. I need the scene, it is a set-up scene that is crucial to the rest of the story, but I don't know how to make it, well - interesting.

What do you do in situations like these?
How do you work on your script, and deal with the doubt around specific elements?

Had I been in another situation I'd probably just gone "this isn't working for me, lets do something else", and either just given up or rewritten half the pitch, but this time I am locked into this idea with art assets almost finished. The story I had planned needs to be completed in roughly the same shape it was envisioned.

Which means right now I am in a situation where I'm doubting half of my idea, and at the same time locked into desperately figuring out how to make it work.

The question is a bit vague. Can you tell us specifically what you think is wrong with the scene? If it's a scene for the sake of exposition, it's best to cut it out and weave it into the other scenes. Not sure if that's it though.

Honestly, I have a really strict policy on this so someone else might disagree, but if I can't make something interesting, I'll cut the scene. If that scene is essential to something that happens later on? I cut out that too - or at least change it to something more interesting.

My personal belief is that there shouldn't be any boring scenes at all, but the bigger issue is that fact that you are incapable of continuing to write this scene, meaning the whole project will stay unfinished. As interesting as whatever you're foreshadowing might be, it's not worth it if stays inside your head.

If you're really reticent on not cutting that part of the plot, consider if there is any other way to impart this information in another scene? A different scene? Can you introduce some other element that is more interesting to this scene? For example, perhaps there isn't any action or conflict propelling the scene so it's dragging. The key takeaway is that if this isn't working, try something wildly different and see if that works.

If it's truly the one scene, then you could try skipping it and going on with a next scene. While this scene would be useful to have just so you know how and in what way you did things, perhaps you can write the scene once you know a bit more about the characters. I do assume that your story will develop and your characters will grow more familiar to you while writing the story, perhaps they'll tell you what to do with that scene later.

Or, you could scrap the scene you have now and try to do it with a different approach/lead in. If you segway into the story without feeling it, try doing it differently. You feel that character A wouldn't want to share the exposition in this scene? Try to lead into it differently in a way that they would. Or maybe you add another scene beforehand with a part of exposition that can be used to kickstart/continue the exposition in this one.

Anyway, if you have problems with one specific scene, change it. Never think that what you have is definite and that making it is absolute before you can continue, if that wasn't a brick wall you wouldn't have needed so long to produce nothing at all. Know when your writing is telling you this way isn't working.
If it would happen often though, if every 'plot-relevant' scene you know must be in the story just doesn't work while the more flexible ones do, take that as a sign that your plot isn't working for you. Try to change or focus on the less relevant parts that do work.

Winston_Nguyen wrote:The question is a bit vague. Can you tell us specifically what you think is wrong with the scene?

I meant my question more as a general thing, and I wasn't sure if I could explain it without explaining everything else, but I'll try.

I'm writing a short, 3 part game - the story takes place over 2 (non-consecutive) nights, and consist basically of "set-up" - "meeting" - "outcome".

The intro currently establishes the mood of the main character, and the first scene (part 1) is run as a private chat (online), where I need to;
Introduce the protag to the person they're chatting to, and the player,
explain the challenge the protag is facing,
start the plot, and set-up the next scene.

Atm it is technically achieving all those things, it just.. doesn't work. It doesn't feel interesting enough for the reader on its own.
Cutting it would mean I have no set-up for the rest of the story, and no lead-in to the second part - which I'm also struggling with writing.

Having this much trouble with it does make me seriously doubt the concept in itself, but like I said, almost all the assets are done, and for an one-month game it is just not viable for me to redo my whole structure at this time. If I had more time I could maybe rework the entire thing to tell a story using the same assets in a different way, but, right now, I need to find a way for the first scene to work with the chat set-up I have.

I guess TL;DR would be: The scene does technically do everything it was supposed to do, it just isn't interesting enough as a scene on its own

I think it would be good if you just wrote the scene first, no matter what issues you are facing right now. Get the scene down first, no matter how boring or uninteresting it may seem to you and move on to completing the first draft. The first draft will always be filled with mistakes and errors. Once you reach the editing stage after your first draft, you'll come up with a better idea to iron out the details of the scene.

I've run into this problem several times as well in my first draft, and it always feels like a brick wall to climb over. It's hard now, but when the reediting phase comes about, somehow, its easier to think of a solution than when you're writing your first draft. I'll either cut the entire scene out or rewrite a more interesting one or change up the dialogue or how the scene was fed to the reader. Either way, it didn't strike me during my first draft of the possibilities of how I could write that particular scene out, only in reediting when you're sitting down, knowing how the rest of your script goes and thinking it in a more 'how do I go about this' or 'detailed' perspective that a solution comes about. What's important is that you get the 'purpose' of your scene written out first. Since you've noted that it's pretty pivotal in your script, it's almost a must that is it written out first, to make sure the bulk of your script is there.

So yea, try writing it out first and completing your script. Then go back and re-look through it again. You'll find your solution one way or another. Good luck man!

When I get stuck (and to avoid getting stuck when I write), I use a "story grid." I've talked about story grids before, but I'll quote it here:

Katy133 wrote:There's a great book by Stuart Horwitz called "Book Architecture: How to Plot and Outline without Using a Formula." It's incredibly useful (it's gotten me out of a lot of story-related jams) because instead of asking you to write your story to a constricting (and often dull and/or vague) formula, the guidebook instead asks you to draw your story's scenes and moments onto a "story grid."

Stuart Horwitz wrote an article about it here and he even includes a story grid J.K. Rowling wrote for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as well as a free PDF of the first chapter from Horwitz's Book Architecture.

TL;DR: A story grid is organised as follows:
Column 1: Chapter number.
Column 2: Time the series ("series" as in "a reoccurring event/motif that's linked to the story's main theme") takes place within the story (some stories are told out of chronological order).
Column 3: Chapter title.
Column 4: Plot. Basically, the "plot" is all the "series" from columns 5-onward meshed together. (Plot=Series1+Series2+Series3+etc)
Column 5-onward: Each of these columns represents a series.
Rows: Each row is a different chapter.

For a story grid example, see J.K. Rowling's.

After rewriting a crucial scene about a dozen times myself, I found a solution that worked pretty well was to change when the scene appeared. This allowed me to completely reimagine the scene in a different view and helped move my project along.

So maybe a change of pacing is what is required.

Maybe you're not starting in the right place. Best place to start is where the situation (status quo) permanently changes for the main character. Maybe that's actually at the meeting stage rather than the set-up stage and you can handle relevant information from the set-up stage in a flashback.

Imperf3kt wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:03 pm After rewriting a crucial scene about a dozen times myself, I found a solution that worked pretty well was to change when the scene appeared. This allowed me to completely reimagine the scene in a different view and helped move my project along.

So maybe a change of pacing is what is required.

Sorry I couldn't reply earlier - but yeh changing the ordering of scenes can work pretty well. There's plenty of ways to spice up a scene - one easy trick is to force the player into making a dramatic decision by the end of the scene.