The Big Picture

In one of my writing classes in college an idea came to me. Since long stories are just a collection of scenes, couldn't we write the best novel ever by creating small, perfect scenes and putting them together?

My professor had a great reply. "Do you draw a face by creating a perfect nose, perfect eyes, and perfect ears and putting them all together?" Of course we don't. A face is a whole thing. All of its features blend together. Sometimes this means we must lose detail in the small scale in order to create the big picture.

Remember to pay attention to the big picture. It's easy to get really excited about a scene and go overboard with it. Sometimes a scene is the one you've been waiting to get to. Sometimes it's just particularly interesting to you. In either case, you should write as much as you can for your first drafts, but realize that you will have to cut a lot out. For one thing, you will usually have to say less than you want. But more importantly, you have to consider the big picture.

Every scene is a feature that adds to the whole face that is your work. Now, some features generally get more attention than others. The eyes get more attention than the cheeks do. And in your writing, a fight scene or a chase scene may get more attention than a scene of travel from one place to another. However, if the contrast between them is too great, the big picture will be damaged. Use a fine touch here. Every scene should be effective and enjoyable, much like staring closely at a picture is still interesting, but we understand that it is part of a larger whole.