Writing Exercises 3

I've done scene Beginnings and Middles and now it's time for Endings. By the time I got to the scene endings chapter in Make a Scene (a really fun writing book that if you are interested in writing you should check out) I will say that all the different beginnings and middles I'd created had started to blend together into a disjointed whole. So I would borrow whichever elements of the previous parts in the endings that I thought were interesting or would work for the type of ending I was doing. I will still try to add the middles I predominately used to help with the flow of the piece.

Zoom-in Ending-follows The Unexpected Revelation

"Where did you get that?" Cara asked. She jabbed her finger at the key Vince was dangling from the chain around his neck.

"I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?"

Vince shrugged. "Doesn't matter, but I know the key won't fit the lock."

All the excitement fizzled out of Cara. She marched over to the secret closet and jammed the key at the lock again. Vince was right. The tumblers would not turn. Slowly her disappointment escaped through her lips. Her forearm vein pulsed where the bookshelf had pinned it. Each throb was a reminder her pain had been for nothing. Still the key meant something. She studied it closer. There were markings on the head that she could trace. It was a clue, even though it was not the one she wanted. She would find the right key, even if it meant another bookshelf fell on her.

Zoom-out Ending-follows The Unexpected Revelation

Vince hated to see the disappointment cloud Cara's eyes. She tried the lock again but it would not open. With a frustrated groan she stomped back to the living room and tossed the key on the table.

"So what does the key go to?" she asked.

Vince shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

Cara frowned. "But you're wearing it around your neck."

"It was just given to me for safe keeping." He should have never showed it to her. By doing so he'd broken at least five rules and could be expelled. He wasn't sure how, but he'd have to steal that key and soon before the others found out and Cara became a target. So many lives had been destroyed already. It shouldn't be possible for a key to be worth more than any human life, but it was.

The Conclusive Ending-follows The Element Danger

"Well, I have to get back to Rachel. Sorry about the damage to your door."

Cara squeezed the key tight at the mention of Rachel enjoying how it dug into her skin. "I wanted to get a new door anyway."

"See ya," and then he was gone.

She watched the door scrap a path in the sawdust and caught a glimpse of Vince's green shirt through the hole and then the hall was empty.

"You have to get used to this." And for the first time her heart agreed. She was tired of hoping, tired of waiting. Besides she had the lock and the key. They would consume her time and for now that was enough.


Thus ends the scenes of Cara and Vince. At least for now. :) How are your scene endings going?

Writing Exercises 2

What follows the beginning of a scene? Middles. But in case you haven't read the beginnings you can hopefully just follow along. There are different ways of handling the middle of a scene. This is the next part of Jordan E. Rosenfeld's Make a Scene that my writers group is going through. We wanted to continue the scenes we began to see how the different elements would work. However, since we started with three possible beginnings, we could pick whichever beginning we thought would work best. So I will also include the beginning scene that these middles are building upon.

There are various aspect within each type of middle and so the name of the middle might not always match what those words mean. There are so many more details and examples in Make a Scene that if these exercises interest you then check the book out!

The Withhold-following Setting

Vince could see a light through the door and he pushed the chainsaw harder. A small chunk of wood fell to the floor revealing the fallen bookshelf and the crown of Cara's brown hair.

"I can see you," he shouted. The chainsaw sputtered as it hit a thicker block of wood and then the engine rolled to a stop. Vince pulled up on the handle but the bar wedged itself between the sides of the groove and wouldn't budge. He jerked it harder, but only succeeded in pinching off the chain.

"Do you have it?" Cara asked.

"It's stuck."

"Can you reach the chain?"

Vince grabbed the chainsaw chain and then realized she meant the chain on the door. There was a round three inch hole in the door and he squeezed his hand through. He bent his wrist and his fingertips grazed the chain. Pushing his arm in deeper he could flip the chain with his middle finer, but when he tried to pull his hand out he realized it was stuck.

The Element Danger- following Action

The chainsaw sputtered to a halt and Cara heard Vince lean against the door with a thud.

"I have something to ask you," he said.

"Now?" Cara asked. She let her breath rush out of her and the bookshelf crushed down on her ribs.

"I asked Rachel out to the Red Wings game. I gave her your ticket. Is that all right?"

Cara froze. The bookshelf sank another inch, but she didn't feel it. This was the hockey game where she planned to tell Vince he was more than just a friend to her. The billboard message was ready.

"I mentioned the game and Rachel got so excited."

Sure she did. Rachel hated hockey. Cara couldn't breath.

"Is that okay?" Vince asked.

"I--Can we talk about this later?"

"Sure. We'll get a drink tonight."

But Cara knew Vince's friends. They always had something planned in the evenings.

The Unexpected Revelation-following Narrative and Setting but from Cara's POV

"I got it," Vince cried and moments later the door cracked open.

Cara shut her eyes against the swirling cloud of sawdust expanding toward her and when she opened her eyes Vince was kneeling by her side. He heaved against the bookshelf and for the first time that hour Cara could breath normally again. She rolled under Vince's arms and away from the book shelf. Her fingers still tightly clenched the key she'd found.

"You free?" Vince asked, his voice a bit strained.

"Yes." Cara nodded. "You won't believe what I found!"

"What?" Vince let the shelf down and faced her.

"You know the secret closet in the apartment? Well, I found the key." Cara held it out.

"Really?" Vince's eyes matched the excitement Cara felt, but when he picked up the key he frowned. "This isn't going to fit," he said. He held the key to the light and then tossed it back. Cara snatched it out of the air.

"Of course it will fit. It's a secret key behind an old bookcase in the same apartment as the secret closet."

"No it won't."

"I'll show you!" Cara stomped down the hall and jammed the key at the lock, but it wouldn't go in.

"Told you," Vince said with a shake of his head.

Cara gazed in disappointment at the key in her hand.

"But--how did you know?"

"Because it matched this." Vince pulled out the silver chain Cara had noticed before and on is was an exact replica of the key in her hand.


Those are the middles. The endings of the scenes, although not of the completed stories are coming soon. In the mean time, write out some middles of a scene and let me know how they turned out!