This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
I was reminded the other day of my favourite scene in a book. A Jane Austen classic, ‘Sense and Sensibility’ is full of wonderful characters and – extra bonus – they come in the form of girls! Edward and Colonel Brandon are both very noble and nice, ya dee ya dah, but the focus is on the girls and you are always gunning for the understated Elinor (or “Sense”). The scene I am of course thinking of is the scene when Elinor discovers Edward has not married another woman. “Elinor could sit it no longer. She almost ran out of the room, and as soon as the door was closed, burst into tears of joy, which at first she thought would never cease.” The scene is so powerful because Elinor has been so reserved, so proper. She has kept her emotions firmly to herself throughout the book but the reader is well aware of the passion raging. This relief, this outburst, allows us all to relish her joy on hearing Edward is free. This scene was made famous by Emma Thompson who managed to convey all the emotion perfectly on the big screen. The scene will have any grown woman snorting through her nose with tears and general ugliness. If you don’t cry you surely have an impenetrable heart of stone? It is the only explanation.
Another scene that stuck with me was in a recent book I’ve read ‘The Novel in the Viola’. Here the main character, an Austrian working as an English housemaid in the Second World War, is furiously raging at the ocean. As she rants and shouts English swear words at the ocean, “COCKLES”, she is interrupted by the good-looking hero of the novel with the wonderful line, “Is this a private game?”
And another scene that has always stuck with me is the scene in ‘The Lovely Bones’ when Susie meets all the other victims of Mr Harvey. So simple, so heart-breaking.
So what is it that makes a fantastic scene? Do you have any favourites that have remained with you long after you’ve closed the book?