: Re: Writing the nitty-gritties of a particular scene I am currently writing the first draft of my novel. I have its outline panned out, down to the chapters, even what should be happening in each

@Jessie137

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I have this happen to me quite a lot. It usually implies research.

Very often I want some event to happen but, since I've never been through similar events, I can't visualise what would naturally happen. The process is always the same:

read (books or online) general descriptions of the particular event (the objective is to understand how it usually, or ideally, unfolds)
read (books or online) anecdotes involving the particular event (each person experiences similar events differently, so different personal takes will widen a writer's horizons)
talk to people who have personal and first hand experience on the topic, whether face to face or on forums
watch videos (youTube, TV shows, films, whatever) about the event, whether it's real footage or fictionalised (but, if fictionalised, try to ascertain how much creative license was taken)

Feel free to interrup the process the moment you can visualise your scene. Some events are easier to get a feel for than others.

In your particular case, if this scene is about trials, find out how a trial really works. Read about it, talk to someone who knows about it, go to forums where you might expect someone to give you some hints (and by hints I mean real life situations and anecdotes, which are often quite different from idealised descriptions) and ask about TV shows or films that are relatively true to life. If possible, see if you can sit in on a trial or talk to someone who's been through one. Sometimes, just the possibility of walking around a place (in this case a courthouse) could be enough to give you plenty of ideas, especially for little details that can bring the setting to life.

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