Scene Tracking Tips Every Writer Should Know About

Of all the techniques studied over the years, scene tracking is one of the best ways to turn wannabe-scenes into winners.

What Is Scene Tracking?

Pantsers and plotters seldom agree on the best way to write, but all want to create scenes that entice readers to devour their novels.

In its simplest form, scene tracking records essential beats and elements in a table, enabling writers to see the story’s flow and evaluate what needs improvement. Writers accomplish this amazing feat by using an off-the-shelf writing or spreadsheet app (e.g., Scrivener, Excel, Numbers or Google).

How scene tracking is used varies based on each writer’s preference.

• Pantsers can track scenes after they write.
• Plotters can use scene tracking to create detailed outlines.
• All writers can track to make sure each scene does its job.

Benefits of Scene Tracking

Before you discount scene tracking because of what seems like extra work, consider books you’ve read that swept you away in a dream-like state, encouraging you to read way past your bedtime — scenes that combined the best of characters, plot, theme, and structure.

Now consider those days you don’t feel like writing. Need inspiration? Perhaps a prompt? How about a blank line posing a question you know needs answering?

Do you respond better to a carrot or stick? For those who prefer positive motivations, scene tracking acts like a muse. If it takes a stick to motivate you, it will serve as a taskmaster.

For example:

• Delete Weak Scenes: If you wrestle with filling out the tracking information, that suggests weakness, making that scene a candidate for deletion.
• Amplify Character Emotions: Readers want to experience the story vicariously through the characters, and keeping track helps you include powerful emotions.
• Organize and Order Scenes: Like stringing together organic pearls, tracking enables writers to organize and order scenes, making sure each one contributes to a beautiful story.
• Enhance Descriptions: Scene tracking serves as a checklist, pointing out where writers can enhance descriptions of settings and senses to engage audiences.

Scene Tracking Tips Every Writer Should Know About

I used a subset of tips to analyze L. Frank Baum’s masterwork, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (click here to see the series).

To evaluate your stories and those of authors you admire, choose what you want to track and put these tips to work.

• Outline your book
• Enhance a scene the day after you write
• Edit your entire manuscript

For example, here are two methods.

1. Add the scene beats as Custom Metadata prompts in Scrivener (my favorite method).
2. As an alternative, create a spreadsheet in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.

Tracking Categories

What you track divides into three categories.

1. Beats measure essential units of action within each scene.
2. Contribution tracks how the scene influences the story.
3. Content includes crucial elements that enhance the scene.

This week’s post focuses on beats.

Essential Scene Beats

Every scene should contain these essential beats.

Create Your Scene Synopsis

First, create a scene name that aligns with the scene’s purpose. Then combine the essential scene beats into a synopsis paragraph.

Within Scrivener’s “Outliner” mode or your favorite spreadsheet, view the synopsis column to evaluate the overall flow of your story.

Conclusion

Sometimes I barrel ahead and write the gist of a scene. While in pantser mode, I capture whatever is lodged in the forefront of my mind. Unfortunately, I think about but don’t always include the wonderful scene fodder floating around in my brain. That’s when the essential scene beats come to the rescue.

I search through my draft for the proper Scene & Sequel Sequence Beats. The time invested enhances every scene.

What I enjoy most about this method is how essential beats engage readers, empowering me to write faster and more intuitively. With that thought in mind, I encourage you to give scene tracking a thorough test — it works!

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