This morning, I was planning out a scene in my novel. I knew what needed to happen in it, but as I started making decisions, I found myself......bored. The scene's situation and the details and the timing all felt too predictable, within the story I'm trying to tell.
So, I decided to put the brainstorming on pause and do other things. Then, I came back to it and decided to shake things up. The core content needs to remain the same (the main character is having a fight with his father, crucial to the storyline). But instead of having this done privately, with another main character overhearing, I'll stage the fight publicly -- in the pub, in front of the other villagers. That way, the tension is ramped up, and embarrassment (on both sides) also becomes a factor. Loyalties will have to be chosen, sides taken.
I always find that if I'm bored by a scene, the best way to improve it is to shake things up. Change the atmosphere (time of day, location), change the situation (characters involved), etc. It seems to add a freshness that was lacking before.
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