The Art of the Set Piece (May 2007)
The Art of the Set Piece
by Philip Martin
Director, Great Lakes Literary, LLC

A “set piece” is a term that describes a particular kind of scene in a story (or movie). A set piece is framed and familiar, with some appealing elaboration of detail. If handled well, a wonderful set piece or two can make the difference between a story that gets published and one that doesn’t.

What exactly is a set piece? Screenwriter John August defines the cinematic version on his website, www.johnaugust.com:

Set-Piece: A scene or sequence with escalated stakes and production values, as appropriate to the genre. For instance, in an action film, a set piece might be a helicopter chase amid skyscrapers. In a musical, a set piece might be a roller-blade dance number. In a high-concept comedy, a set piece might find the claustrophobic hero on an increasingly crowded bus, until he can't take it anymore. Done right, set pieces are moments you remember weeks after seeing a movie.

A set piece in film or literature is a scene that is “set off” in some fashion from the flow of the story. It may exist in a temporary pause in the forward motion of a story, causing a bit of a time warp until the scene is resolved. This doesn’t mean it is without action or drama or consequences, just that it takes place in a sort of suspended time.

In a thriller or adventure tale, the set piece might be a chase scene or a duel. Think of (in a movie) the chase scene in The French Connection when a New York cop follows a hijacked elevated train, traveling at high speed in a car on city streets under the tracks. Or consider the light-saber duel between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, perched high on a catwalk over a deep void, in The Empire Strikes Back.

Another famous example from film history is the dramatic airplane chase scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 movie, North by Northwest. The hero is pursued, runs, try to hide, and is chased through a cornfield. The element that makes it stand apart: the chasing party is working from a small airplane. Hitchcock takes the conventions and then adds his own original features.

Another famous scene from the movies is Sally’s fake orgasm in a diner in When Harry Met Sally. It takes place in a fairly familiar, framed setting: two friends meet to converse leisurely over a meal. The brilliance comes when Harry (Billy Crystal) claims that women in his experience couldn’t fake orgasms, whereupon Sally (Meg Ryan) proceeds to give a convincing audio performance, right at the table. The scene concludes with a nearby woman saying to a waiter: “I’ll have what she’s having.”

In many romance novels, a necessary set piece is the inclusion of one or more love-making scenes. In a cozy mystery, the most famous of set pieces is the scene when all suspects are gathered in the drawing room to hear the detective discuss his or her theories and sort out the real culprit from a sea of red herrings.

In fantasy, set pieces are the consulting of soothsayers, the intricate weaving of a spell, and such. The first scene in Act IV of Macbeth, when Macbeth goes to meet three witches stirring their cauldron, is a set piece. The hags create a magical potion (“eye of newt and toe of frog . . .”) and deliver a soothing prophecy (Macbeth shall not be vanquished until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill).

A set piece, therefore, is a framed, somewhat familiar scene, but one with (we hope) a new twist. It is often notable for its elaboration of engaging details: the three witches in Macbeth delight us with a list of bizarre ingredients they are tossing into their weird brew.

Let’s look at an example from fiction. In Brian Jacques’s popular children’s fantasy series, the Redwall novels, many of the stories have a sumptuous banquet scene. Here is one example, from Mattimeo (1989), offering a groaning table of luscious details.

Eight long trestle tables had been laid in a sprawling octagon, covered in the finest white linen, overlaid with pastel-hued mats of woven rushes. Intricate flower arrangements trailed night-scented stock, roses, pansies, kingcups, jasmine, lupins and ferns at the junction of every table. . . . Everything was perfect, except for the food. . . . That was beyond mere words. [A long list of many cheeses, breads, and drinks follows.] . . . Then there were the cakes, tarts, jellies and sweets. Raspberry muffins, blueberry scones, redcurrant jelly, Abbot’s cake, fruitcake, iced cake, shortbread biscuits, almond wafers, fresh cream, sweet cream, whipped cream, pouring cream, honeyed cream, custardy cream, Mrs. Churchmouse’s bell tower pudding, Mrs. Bankvole’s six-layer trifle, Cornflower’s gatehouse gateau, Sister Rose’s sweetmeadow custard with honeyglazed pears, Brother Rufus’s wildgrape woodland pie with quince and hazelnut sauce. To name but a few. . . .

The banquet set pieces in the Redwall books are a framed, momentary pause in the story. The good animals of Redwall Abbey sit awhile to devour Brother Rufus’s wildgrape pie with quince and hazelnut sauce.

Yet the set piece contributes to the story. The plot of a Redwall novel typically involves a struggle between the friendly small animals (mice, rabbits, moles) and dastardly evil critters (stoats, weasels, foxes). The banquet conveys the essence of what the good citizens of Redwall share: fellowship, love of parties, peaceful times. This is what will be lost forever if the nasty ones take over. No more Mrs. Bankvole’s six-layer trifle. After the banquet, subsequent chapters return to the great struggle with a renewed sense of what is to be defended.

Why are set pieces important to execute well? The answer lies in their mix of familiarity with innovation. Because of their familiarity, we pay special attention to each banquet (or duel or chase scene or festive ball), wondering how the scene will be handled, how it will be different from similar ones from other books and other authors. In a romance novel, for instance, the quality of the love-making scenes can make or break a novel’s success; romance readers appreciate a well-written scene, and scorn those that falter or sound trite or commonplace.

Craft a great set piece, and people will applaud. Do it poorly, and readers will shake their heads and label you a pretender.

Here then are some useful techniques:

1. Look for one or more chances to build a set piece in your story.

You are looking for scenes that are familiar, framed, with a stand-alone quality, open to some entertaining embellishment. You don’t want too many, and you don’t want them too close to each other. In between, the story needs to keep pace through its upward arc, with all the normal story elements of character development, desires thwarted, increasing conflict, more obstacles, reversals, and so on.

2. Make your set piece(s) more unique and memorable.

First, you need to know the conventions of your genre. You can incorporate them or play off them. For instance, a sword fight typically includes: initial challenges and taunts, early tentative thrusts and parries, escalation of action with an ebb and flow, small injuries are suffered, one knocks the sword out of the other’s grasp, the hero has to scramble for his or her life, things look bleak, weapons are retrieved, nearby objects are used as substitute weapons or dueling platforms or escape devices (the hero swings from the chandelier to the next tavern table), and so on.

How to create unique elements? Look at the conventions and ask how they could be embellished, made different, opposite, odd. The fake orgasm scene, as with much comedy, is one of those contrarian set pieces. In a public restaurant, you expect a polite conversation in low tones; Sally’s very audible performance is surprising, embarrassing to Harry, funny. Perhaps you can exchange character roles, play against type, create a surprise or revelation, see humor in danger, danger in humor, go through a wider range of emotions, use an uncommon setting, and so on.

Sometimes uniqueness comes in the richness of the language. Consider the banquet scenes of Brian Jacques. Read one of the Jeeves novels by P.G. Wodehouse; note how the brilliant author makes stock scenes fresh with his imaginative comic dialogue.

Remember to give us some of the conventions, albeit with twists. A swashbuckling pirate story needs a dramatic opportunity for Errol Flynn or Johnny Depp to swing on a long rope from one ship to the next. You may doubt it’s actually possible to do that, but you love to see it nonetheless. In a vampire novel, the nocturnal sucking of the blood of the victim calls for the development of classic suspense. . . the fitful sleep of the victim, the moon, the open window, sensuality, fear, attack, succumbing, pleasure.

3. If you have several similar set pieces in your story, consider how to make them diverse.

If you have several love scenes for the romantic couple, or three challenges for the young wizard, you’ll want to make them different. Time of day, incidents within the event, roles played, dialogue, mood . . . all these are tools to diversify such scenes. A series of set pieces in a story should build in intensity or follow the story’s arc, heading in the right direction in terms of relationships or plot development.

4. Establish your signature style.

Hitchcock’s methods in his set pieces are a creative signature, as are those by P.G. Wodehouse or Brian Jacques or any of the masters. Of course, it’s hard to match up to them. But learn to look for such set pieces in great stories. Notice what makes each author shine in a distinctive way.

What is your style? What sort of elaboration of these set-apart scenes do you enjoy crafting for your readers? Remember, a set piece is a place where readers will pay special attention to your writerly style. They will be curious to see how you handle a common scene.

5. Make sure to deliver the goods.

“The goods” is reader satisfaction. A set piece is a scene to satisfy the readers, not to challenge them or leave them hanging in suspense. Wrap it in up with a nice ribbon and let them enjoy their gift.

When in doubt, I recommend going for the heartstrings. Go for a good closing image or thought or line of dialogue. “I’ll have what she’s having.” Remind us of what we treasure. That may be humor, or family values, or friendships, or romantic satisfaction. In this brief pause, within this frame, reflect on the larger picture: life is good. We have much to be thankful for. We have inner strengths, family and friends, places of safety and trust. Shows what we what we desire to protect or attain.

Genre fiction especially needs set-piece excellence, as a writer faces many stock scenes and must find a way to create original and memorable versions. But the principles also apply to literary fiction, with classic scenes of first meetings, arguments, dinner engagements, big family events, and on. When they are familiar, are framed in a patterned setting, create a bit of a pause from the flow of the story, and have an elaboration that sets them apart, they become set pieces.

Set pieces are places for writers to shine, to enjoy the wonder of words, to make a story unique. Each set piece is an opportunity for authorial creativity. You may wonder how to make a familiar scene fresh. The prize: readers will notice and marvel and appreciate each time you do.


Copyright 2007 by Philip Martin, director of Great Lakes Literary, LLC, and series editor of The New Writer’s Handbook, an annual anthology. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint, contact the author at www.GreatLakesLit.com. Any brief quoted passages from published works are used for the purpose of literary criticism.

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