Value shifts are a great way to ensure that each scene moves the story forward and pulls its own weight. I also realise that I’m not the first person to discuss turning a scene or value shifts in the writing space. But I want to assure you that I don’t want to add more confusion to the mix or discuss this topic in a way that is overly complicated.

That’s why I’ve called this The Beginner’s Guide.

In this beginner’s guide, I will define the term value shifts or the concept of the turning of scene, explain how a scene turns, share non spoiler-y examples from the mystery and romance genres. I will also show you how you can check if your scenes in your current work in progress, outline, or finished first draft turn and move the story forward. On top of this, I will walk you through how to fix a scene that doesn’t turn.

Without further ado, let’s get on with the episode.

About the Mini-Series

You’ll probably have noticed that this episode is a part of a mini-series on writing great scenes. This series will be open-ended because I want to leave room for a topic that I might have overlooked. Also, I want to make room in the series for as many episodes as it needs.

Why?

Because I want this series to help you to write better scenes, and in the spirit of that helpfulness, I’ve also included another writing exercise in this show as well.

So far, in this series, I’ve recorded episodes on:

• What is a scene?
• The Anatomy of a Scene: Goal, Tension, Conflict, and Stakes
• Scene Cliffhangers
• What is a story beat 
• Turning points of a scene which are also called value shifts (this episode)

And, just in case you’ve missed it, the first episode in this series answers the age-old question: what is a scene?

If there is a topic related to writing scenes that you’d like me to discuss on the show, use the request form to submit your topic suggestions. Or, submit a question for me to answer on the show or privately by filling out the form.

Thank You

If you’re new to this podcast, I want to say a huge thank you for stopping by and trying out my show. To those of you who have been faithfully listening, thank you for regularly listening in and supporting me; your support means more to me than you know.

Key Definitions

Before I dive into the content there are a few important definitions you need to know. I realise that not everyone will want to go back an listen to the previous episodes, so for the sake of clarity, let me share a few definitions so where all on the same page.

What is a Chapter?

A chapter is a tool for controlling the pacing of a story by grouping together one or more scenes. Chapters can be as long or as short as they need to be, provided that the chapter has a page-turning effect on the reader. That’s what matters most—the reader’s experience.

If a chapter is a tool, then what is a scene?

So, What is a Scene?

A scene is a unit of story that takes place in a specific location and time. If one of these changes, you have a new scene.

If you want to know more about scenes, check out episodes TAP041, TAP045, and TAP046.

Defining a Beat

A Beat is the smallest unit of story that comprises of a moment that moves the story forward and compels the reader to consider what might happen next. Each scene in your novel may be comprised of several different beats. In short, it’s an exchange in action or reaction.

If you want to know more about scenes check out episode TAP047.

All About Turning a Scene

So, how does a scene turn? And what does a scene turning mean?

The concept of a scene turning comes from screenwriting. That’s how I learned about it, by reading Story by Robert McKee.

Each moment, beat by beat contributes to the turning of a scenes. Or in simpler terms each beat within a scene creates a shift, I believe this is why Shawn Coyne uses the term value shift. A scene will start off in one way then ends in another. This turn or shift needs to be either internal or external but this doesn’t have to be an either or scenario, you can have both.

So, What Do I Mean by an Internal or External Shift?

An internal shift occurs from the point of view character’s perspective, something changes within them. It’s related to that internal struggle your character experiences throughout the story.

For instance, in a mystery novel, the amateur sleuth might start fearing for their own safety after discovering that their home or hotel room was broken into and finding a threatening message stabbed to a piece of furniture. In a romance, a character might start a scene feeling happy and excited to speak to their love interest but overhear something they said but not get the full context and feel dejected.

The External Value Shift

Whereas an external shift is related to plot and is focused on the events within the scene. In a mystery, the amateur sleuth might be starting to figure out what led to the victim’s death and uncover another important clue at the end of the scene.

So, what does this external shift look like in the romance genre?

A workaholic heroine might finally let down her hair and go to a social event, but at the end of the scene, she might decide to go on a date with a guy that the readers know is a bit of a douche.

The Ways a Scene Can Turn

Essentially, a scene can turn or shift in four ways.

• Positive to Negative: A scene starts off positive but takes a turn for the worse.
• Negative to Positive: A scene starts off in a bad place but takes a turn for the better.
• Positive to Double Positive: A scene starts off positive and ends with another victory for the character
• Negative to Double Negative: A scene goes from bad to worse.

You get it; Something needs to happen in each scene that alters the point of view character’s course in some way. But this change needs to be significant enough so that your protagonist can’t ignore it and continue on their merry way, and it needs to be interesting for the reader.

Consider this scenario: at the start of your scene, your character needs to buy groceries but doesn’t have any money, so they decide to go to the bank and make a withdrawal. Technically, this is a shift from negative to positive. And, more importantly, it’s boring. There’s a part of my brain that’s thinking, you know what’s missing here, a body.

But I digress.

How Can You use Value Shifts to Create Better Scenes?

If you outline or have already written your story, go through each scene, in a spreadsheet and explain how each scene turns. I like to use two columns, one for the beginning and one for the end. And I use the plus and minus symbols along with an explanation of what happens in the scene.

To help you figure out how a scene turns ask yourself these questions:

• So, how does the scene start?
• How does it end?

Next you need to analyse the value shifts in order to figure out whether the scene is turning. Ask yourself a few more questions:

• Does something change in this scene?
• Is it significant enough to alter the protagonist’s path in some way?
• And, is it interesting for the reader?

If you answered “no” to any of those last three questions, then your scene has a problem.

Global Values Shifts are Key

So, you’ve discovered that one of your scenes isn’t turning. By now, you’re thinking, “How can I fix this?” The easiest way to fix scenes that don’t turn is to consider your story’s global values. I know, just what you needed, more values.

But bear with me for a second.

Each genre will have it’s own set of global story values. These are as follows:

• Action/Horror/Thriller – Life (+) and Death (-)
• Mystery/Crime – Justice (+) and Injustice (-)
• Romance – Love (+) and Hate (-)
• Western – Freedom (+) and Subjugation (-)

Science Fiction is a little more complicated because of its many sub genres. You need to pay attention to the story’s theme to find the global values. But in general there is often a power (+) and subordination (-) element at play in the story, usually because the stories are political in nature.

The fantasy genre also has a similar issue to SciFi. But these are most of the common global values:

• Political/Society: power (+) and subordination (-)
• War – Honour (+) and Dishonour (-)
• Worldview – Maturity (+) and Naivete (-)
• Morality – Altruism (+) and Selfishness (-)

An Example of How to Fix Issues with Scenes that Don’t Turn

Let’s use the mystery genre as an example. Using the story’s global values, how can we make the scene turn in the “I have no money for groceries” scenario that I discussed earlier?

All you have to think is, “How can I ruin my protagonist’s trip to the bank and potentially the rest of their week?”

Or, in a less villainous way, what obstacles can I throw along their way?

My Examples

Here are a few examples that I’ve come up with:

1. As the main character is walking to the bank, they notice a suspicious person following them or lurking around the bank entrance. That one is probably more mystery-thriller than murder mystery, but the scene is way more interesting now that intrigue has entered the picture.
2. While waiting in line at the bank, the main character overhears a cryptic conversation between two people discussing the suspicious circumstances around the death of someone that the protagonist thinks they’ve heard of but didn’t know had passed. You know that moment where you think, “I’ve heard that name before, but I can’t remember where.”
3. At the ATM, the main character receives a bank note with a message saying, “If you have this, then I’ve been murdered,” along with a mobile phone number.
4. On the way to the bank, the main character receives a text message from a loved one in distress, urging them to hurry to a specific location.

Obviously, the characters in this genre are either empathetic or too curious for their own good, and that’s a genre trope that readers expect. The next step after this brainstorming is to choose which direction you want to take the story in and run with it. And now, the hard work begins: rewrite or add more depth to the scene by including this new plot element.

If you’re working on a finished first draft, you’ll have to go through your story and change every scene that is impacted by this change.

This is the process I follow when Writing into the Dark. At some point, I’ll make a change to the plot, and I’ll have to go back and foreshadow this upcoming event by changing the previously written scenes.

Concluding Thoughts

I hope this episode gave you a basic understanding of value shifts and how to turn scenes. As always, I have a few important questions for you.

• Do you focus on turning a scene or use value shifts in scenes when outlining or discovery writing?
• What did you learn in this episode that you plan on applying in your next novel or your current work in progress?

Share your thoughts in the comments section under the blog post or in The Authorpreneur Podcast discord server. 

In the next episode of the podcast, I will delve deeper into how to transition between scenes.

Thank you for listening, and happy reading and writing, everybody.

With love,

Amelia xx

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