: Re: What is the spectrum of 'disasters' in 'scene-sequel?" I'm looking at my project through the lens of the 'scene-sequel' model now. Scene=Goal/Conflict/Disaster, Sequel=Reaction/Dilemma/Decision. My

@Bethany377

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Scene sequel is a pretty generic concept, and nothing to be suspicious of. It is a way to format your pacing. Several authors choose something like scene-scene-sequel. Having the pair "scene-sequel" isn't important as long as you understand what it's doing; which is ramping up tension, and then letting out a bit of steam. The reason some authors vary is that it can feel formulaic, if done in an obvious way; but, it is a staple of thriller writing.

Disaster is not meant to be just an obstacle that your character has to walk around or avoid, though it can be. It's meant to be something that explicitly makes the story more interesting on any vector by introducing conflict that matters in respect to what a character wants. Disaster could be your protagonist seeing her boyfriend with another girl in a coffee shop or something else entirely. It shouldn't always be large or small, but it should be relevant to the plot or character are you are aiming for; and it should be proportional to how much tension you want to create (and how much your story can earn based on its current setup).

Another way of thinking about this is "yes-but" & "no-and". The character is after something. Do they get it? Yes, but something else happens! No, and something else happens!

The goal here is to make sure tension stacks up nicely and that it does so at a decent pace, keeping your reader hooked. It's not merely about something going wrong, it's about making things more interesting by having something of import going wrong.

If losing your flipper means you can't go look for treasure, then that night not be the disaster you want. But maybe it is ok if you can make something interesting happen. Like, because you could not go searching, you find out your loan shark is after you, so now you really need to find that treasure (no, and). Maybe what you really want is a hungry actual shark guarding the now located treasure (yes, but).

This is called many other things: chase your characters up a tree, then throw rocks at them; blow things up; hurt your characters; don't be boring; etc.

The point is largely to make your reader feel sympathy and an urge to read on. Sequel is about releasing the pressure. There's not really a right "disaster", but there are functional ones. The spectrum as you pointed out is anything from perceived or emotional disaster to something with a literal cost, be it physical or opportunity.

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