Adding Sequels to Scenes (variant)

Pg. 51: "Most often it [the scene] will end following the resolution of a conflict, though players may want to add some in-character dialogue or other details first."

I'd like to expand on this idea. After the conflict of a scene, the characters involved are sure to have some sort of emotional reaction to their success or failure. This makes for a perfect opportunity to set aside a few minutes to have an in-character dialogue revolving around how the characters feel at this moment in time.

The dialogue discussion in the sequel should be relatively freeform. It's possible to have just the main character of the last scene speak her thoughts aloud in reaction to the scene. Or, more often, the sequel can include two or more characters. These additional characters may be characters who were involved in the last scene, or may even include characters not involved but are useful in the context as a "shoulder to cry on" type of person.

The dialogue discussion may include all or some of the following: a show of emotions; an evaluation of the conflict's results; and/or a decision as what to do next. These are explained below.

Show of Emotions: The main characters affected by the conflict now talk about how they feel at this time, speaking in basic, raw, emotional language. This part of the sequel allows characters to stomp around and curse if angry, or jump up and be exited if overjoyed, and so on. Or the proceedings can be more subdued, such as a muted grumbling expressing annoyance at what just happened; whatever you think suits your character. Other characters involved in the sequel may express their own emotions as well. Or they may try to sympathize with main character, try to make her see the bright side of things, or the down side, or even gloat if appropriate.

An Evaluation: After emotions subside, characters are able to look back on the conflict and talk about how it fits into the bigger picture of things. This is a good time for characters to verbally review what's important to the story in the near term as well as the past and the future, even recalling past episodes. If a mystery is involved, characters might want to discuss clues and strange happenings from long ago. Characters may even want to probe their own psyches to discover how their self-image has changed because of the last scene.

A Decision: After the evaluation, characters often come to a decision as what to do next with their lives. This is a good time to voice a new goal, or reaffirm an old one. This is not to say characters will always be able to follow up on their decision (it all depend on later scenes, of course), but at least the characters will have a direction to head in from here.

Note, as said, these in-character dialogues in the sequel should be freeform and needn't follow a direct path from emotion, to evaluation, to a decision. You can jump around. You can leave out parts entirely. The producer should feel free to make suggestions to shape the sequel, and characters should feel free to experiment. When the producer senses things are winding down, he can bring the sequel to a close and move on to the next scene.

For more discussion about how Scenes and Sequels can work, see Jack M. Bickham's excellent book: "Scene & Structure"

That is all!

Mike Mayer
Mayer3@optonline.net