On Writing : What’s the scene you avoided writing — and why? by Kat Spencer

Hey, Kat Spencer. I've avoided writing scenes. Not those kinds of scenes though. I went back to the scenes later.

Any scene where there is no dialogue. I find that the hardest scenes to write are scenes where characters grow and are vulnerable. In order for those scenes to work, you have to be vulnerable.

Fight scenes. <Insert fight scene here. Please make sure to have this combo X-X-A-Y at the end to allow the hero to lose yet not lose too much face.>

In a very early screenplay I wrote as an exercise during a writing course I was attending at Bournemouth College, adapted from my own short story, The Well, I left out the parts that related to my fantasies of the woman who was my next door neighbour. Everyone, without exception, suggested that was probably the BEST part and I should have left it in!

For me, it’s always the scene where nothing “happens” on the surface.

The one where a character is alone, silent, and forced to exist with what they’ve lost.

Not because it’s difficult to write technically, but because it asks a question back:

How honest am I willing to be?

I often avoid those scenes at first. I circle around them. I write everything before and after.

And eventually I realize: that avoided scene is the film’s heart.

I usually come back to it later, when I’m ready to let go of control and let silence do the work.

Some scenes can only be written once you’ve lived a little more.

Those are the scenes I like best to write. There's a real life emotional experience to transcribe onto the page. :)

When it's close, honest or revealing it resonates that to the audience and holds their attention. If it's close and from the heart, it touches hearts. The ending of a four book series "Forbidden" ends in tender vulnerability that leaves the audience in tears. To feel the emotional impact one must invest in the story start to finish.

The hardest thing in writing is ability to put yourself in other person's character and think from his/her pespective, while putting away your toughts, moral code, beliefs, etc.

I've got a book (sequel) on the go, and there is a situation from the previous book where the storyteller promised a female gay couple (friends) to give them a baby. It is the dialogue that is tricky. It needs to be graceful and realistic, without being tacky.

Wonderful responses, everyone, thanks for taking the time!

Kat Spencer that is such an interesting question. I have multiple scenes that would pour out of me but have been very guarded in these. I don't want to hurt people emotionally and I do let that dictate my approach.

Darrell Pennington What if you are writing about a topic that is poignant and necessary, but may ruffle feathers?

Kevin Enners Yes, that seems to be my specialty hahaha, especially using the lens and prism of crude humor to articulate those topics. But I do have projects that are very personally based and I know that some of the inspiration comes from personal failings throughout my life and I do not want to cause emotional turmoil for others as I expunge my emotions on to the page. It is a balance that I am still navigating for sure.

Darrell Pennington Diddo (for the most part). I have cerebral palsy, so I have written scripts for a dramedy about a paraplegic writer and a crime drama about a detective with mild cerebral palsy... I am not yet an Aaron Sorkin, and I am still learning how to market my scripts and navigate the film industry. But, as an author, I write thrillers. This genre seems to be widely accepted. And, if I push the envelope, it seems that my audience goes with it. :) Of course, I have never written anything that I thought would cause emotional turmoil either. :)