Name My Scenes and the Story Outline Insight

Are you ready to save time and learn more about your manuscript?

Below we will look at two of the newest features in Fictionary’s StoryTeller software: Name My Scenes and the Story Outline Insight

Name My Scenes

Naming every scene in a novel gives you a goldmine of information. It’s the best-kept story editing secret. I’m not talking about the name at the top of your chapters or scenes in your final published book. I’m talking about scene names that you, the author, create to help you write, edit, and keep track of your overall story.

When I first sit down to begin an edit, the first thing I do is create my skeleton blurb (a one-line description of my story). Next, I always name every scene in a novel I’m about to edit. This is what allows me to truly see the whole forest, and not just the trees.

In the Fictionary software, you can name scenes yourself, or you can just ask Fictionary and let us name the scenes for you.

But before we get into that, let’s talk a little about the what and the why of scene naming.

Why is Name My Scenes important?

We are naming scenes for ourselves, not for the reader. This is part of the story editing process, and once you see the value, I bet you’ll never edit again without naming every scene first.

Your goal is to name each scene in three to five words. The scene name should illustrate the main action in a scene. The scene names also create a story outline, so you can see your story at a high level.

The top three reasons for naming scenes are:

1. Determine the purpose of each scene.
2. Structure scenes within your chapters, so they make the story stronger.
3. Structure your story, so the pacing is strong and keeps the reader engaged until the last page.

Let’s dig into each of those a little deeper.

1. Purpose of Each Scene

The scene name should represent the main action in the scene. It should be something you can read and immediately know what happens in the scene. Naming a scene helps you focus in on the key way that scene moves your story forward. What will your character experience? (Example: Roger’s sister dies in childbirth) What will your reader learn? (Example: Katie discovers affair) This is called the scene purpose. Naming a scene will help you understand the purpose of a scene in your overall narrative. If you can’t easily name a scene, it’s possible that the purpose is unclear. And if you can’t determine the purpose, the scene needs revision or possibly to be cut from the story. Ouch, I know…

2. Chapter Structure

Naming each scene gives you insight into the theme of a chapter. Each chapter should be designed for maximum reader engagement. Naming each scene gives you a way to determine if the scenes belong in the same chapter. This is similar to asking yourself if the scene belongs in the story. The difference here is that we want to place the scenes strategically in chapters to that they work effectively together to move the story forward, not necessarily to cut them from the story.

2. Story Structure

The scene names are helpful when you’re evaluating the structure of your novel. You can scan the list and analyze if the scenes appear in the best order to create tension. When you name the scenes, you see how the scenes fit in the story arc. Where is each scene in relation to the story arc scenes? These are the inciting incident, plot point 1, the middle plot point, plot point 2, and the climax.

Editing becomes much easier when you have a story outline to follow.

Does Naming Scenes Take Long?

Will this take a long time? It can. But Fictionary software can help. Check out this short video to see how “Name My Scenes” works.

Once you have all your scenes named in Fictionary software, it will automatically populate The Story Outline insight.

Try Name My Scenes in Fictionary’s StoryTeller Software Now

Start 7-day Free Trial

Next Up: What is a Story Outline?

Whether you are a planner, a pantser, or somewhere in between, creating an after-draft outline before you start your edit will set you up for success. Naming every scene creates this outline for you.

But what good is an outline if you can’t see it in the context of your story arc? It’s helpful, but without the story arc, you can’t see if all the scenes are in the best place for creating a story readers love.

To make this easier, the Fictionary Story Outline insight shows you every scene in the context of the Story Arc.

The insight also shows you how many scenes are in a chapter. This is important information if you want to see if you’ve balanced your scenes within your chapters. For any chapter with too many scenes, go to the Evaluate page and see if you can find a logical place to split the chapter into two. This could be a change in point of view characters, or perhaps a change in chapter theme.

In this screenshot of the Fictionary Story Outline, a green line shows you this is the first scene in a chapter.

A blue line shows you the scene is both the first scene in a Chapter and a story arc scene.

And here’s a little piece of magic.

An orange line shows you the scene is a story arc scene but not the first scene in a chapter. That’s an issue. A story arc scene buried in a chapter makes that scene have less significance. You want that scene to be as powerful as possible.

We recommend that each of the five story arc scenes—the inciting incident, plot point 1, the middle plot point, plot point 2, and the climax—are placed at the beginning or end of a chapter.

Making Revisions

It’s time for revisions if:

1. The story arc scenes do not appear at the start or end of a chapter. The video above shows you how to quickly restructure a chapter on the Evaluate page.
2. The scenes in a chapter don’t belong together. Maybe the point of view characters don’t belong in the same chapter. Or maybe there are too many scenes in one chapter.
3. The purpose of a scene isn’t clear. If a scene is not named, or you couldn’t name it, the scene most likely lacks focus and needs revision.
4. A scene is too long. Scenes over 5000 words won’t get named. This is getting into short story territory and the scene is too long. For any unnamed scenes, we suggest evaluating that scene and determining if you can name the scene in 3 words. If you can’t the scene may lack focus. This is an opportunity to split the scene into multiple scenes. Here’s a tip. Look for anywhere the point of view character, the location, or the time changes. These are all great places to start a new scene.

Now it’s your turn. Log in to your Fictionary account and get those scenes named. If you don’t have a Fictionary account yet, then start your 1-day free trial. Your novel will be better for it.