So it’s been a while, but we’ve been looking at Scene middles, composed of conflict and tactics and action.

You may be wondering, as Deborah Chester asks, “But how is scene conflict actually written? How is summary avoided?”

“And how do you structure this large, vital conflict portion of the scene to make it moment by moment?” asks Bickham. “You do so by carefully following the rules of stimulus and response . . .”

How do I write conflict?

As Jack M. Bickham says, readers “like to live [scenes] in their imagination. This being the case, you want to build your scenes as big as possible, and you want to make them just as believable—as lifelike—as you possibly can. The most important way you attain this end is by presenting each scene moment by moment, leaving nothing out, because there is no summary in real life, and you can’t have any summary in the scene, either, if you are shooting for maximum lifelikeness and reader involvement.”

“Thing is,” says Dwight Swain, “a scene, a unit of conflict, is made up of a continuous series of these stimulus/response or motivation/reaction units. It’s what gives your readers the feeling they’re living through the experience.”

“The modern writer doesn’t try to show ‘everything happening at once.’ Nor does she show ‘everyone feeling at once’ or ‘everyone thinking at once,'” say Randy Ingermanson and Peter Economy. “Instead, she focuses on different characters in turn, giving each character one or more paragraphs in which to act, talk, feel, think, and look.
“That paragraph or group of paragraphs forms a unit in fiction–the lowest layer of plot complexity.” Which they call a clip. “We define a clip to be a sequence of sentences focused on a single character that contains any mix of action, dialogue, interior emotion, interior monologue, and description.”

As usual, the craft gurus have many names for the same things. 
Action = Stimulus = Motivation = Public Clip
Reaction = Response = Private Clip
A/R Unit = M/R = S&R = MRU

What are MRUs?

“Stimulus and response are cause and effect made more specific and immediate. They function right now in the story, this instant . . .” says Mr. Bickham.

“A/R units are simply an action and its immediate reaction,” says Chester.

“In general, action and development in a scene is continuous,” says Dwight Swain. “It consists of a series of motivations and reactions (M/R): first a stimulus from outside the viewpoint character, then the viewpoint character’s response–in character–to that stimulus…which brings on another motivating stimulus from the person or circumstance being confronted…which calls forth another reaction…and so on, as when someone speak to you; you answer; the other person responds to your answer; which leads to you speaking again, making yet another remark…until the scene, the confrontation, is ended.” 

“There are two types of A/R unit—the simple and the complicated,” says Chester. “Both can be found in any given scene.”‘

How to Write the Stimulus/Motivation/Action/Public Clip

Ingermanson and Economy say, “A public clip shows the reader anything the POV character is able to see, hear, smell, taste, or touch. Because the reader knows that the POV character is the person doing the seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching, you don’t have to say so. All you have to do is show the sensory input. You can use any combination of the following three tools in your public clips: Action, Dialogue, Description.”

How to Write the Reaction/Response/Private Clip (Simple Version)

In short, a simple Reaction/Response is one where only an external response is shown.

Mr. Bickham gives us “a few simple rules:

• Stimulus must be external—that is, action or dialogue, something that could be witnessed if the transaction were on a stage.
• Response must also be external in the same way.
• For every stimulus, you must show a response.
• For every desired response, you must provide a stimulus.
• Response usually must follow stimulus at once.
• When response to stimulus is not logical on the surface, you must ordinarily explain it.”

That last point leads us to

How to Write a Complex Reaction/Response/Private Clip

In short, a complex Reaction/Response is when both an internal response and then an external response are shown.

As Chester asks, “What happens when the A/R connection isn’t clear?”

“But what, you may ask, about those stimulus-response transactions which would make perfectly good sense if we just knew what the receiving character thought and felt before responding?” asks Mr. Bickham. ” In such cases, where the stimulus-response transaction is complicated, we must keep things clear for the reader by showing him the character’s internalization–the feeling-thought process that goes between the stimulus and the response.”

“Writing a private clip is more complex, because you’re showing the reader what’s going on both inside and outside your POV character,” say Ingermanson and Economy. “A private clip shows the reader anything the POV character does, says, feels, or thinks. It does not usually show anything the POV character sees, hears, smells, or tastes. (Those normally come in a public clips that focuses on some other character.) . . . You can use any of the following four tools in your private clips: Action, Dialogue, Interior Emotion, Interior Monologue.”

More on the complex Stimulus-Internalization-Reaction Unit

“What we have discovered is that in every transaction, no matter how simple and straightforward, there is always a step between the stimulus and the response, and it takes place inside the mind, heart, and body of the person receiving the stimulus and preparing a response. That process between S&R we call internalization,” says Bickham. “When the S&R transaction is complicated, you may have to play the internalization so the reader will understand the response.”

“When a character does or says something (Action) and the other character reacts in a complex or illogical way (Reaction), the writer must explain it to readers,” says Ms. Chester. “The only means you have to accomplish this is viewpoint. Through viewpoint, we can insert internalization between an action and a complicated reaction.”

As Jack M. Bickham explains, “simple transactions, of course, don’t need an explanation . . . But the internalization process always takes place, and when things are complicated, you may need to remember that the pattern of every stimulus-response transaction—in deepest reality—is:
STIMULUS—INTERNALIZATION—RESPONSE 
The rule being that you present the internalization to the reader—’play’ it for him, if you will—when necessary to make an otherwise superficially incredible transaction understandable and credible.”

Internalization Order

Elizabeth Lyon says, “I’ve crafted a formula, so to speak, that is a good one to remember and follow most of the time. It desribes what order to write that will include all of the aspects of movement and suspense discussed so far: Action/Stimulus–>Reaction/Emotion–>Thought–>Action”

Chester says, “Internalization components fall in a specific order as follows:

• Feeling [physical pain or visceral reaction]/emotion first.
• Then thought.
• Then action
• Then dialogue.”

Ingermanson and Economy say, “You must get one complication right in your private clips: the order. . . . Here is a simple rule to use: Show first whatever happens fastest. Most often, this means that you show interior emotion first, followed by various instinctive actions or dialogue, followed by the more rational kinds of action, dialogue, and interior monologue.”

When to Internalize

“When do I go inside the character’s head?” asks Bickham. “One part of the answer: When you must, to explain a complicated and unexpected response to a stimulus. So if you want to drop in a bit about the character’s thinking or feeling process, or even a tiny bit of background, you provide a complicated stimulus, and the character is forced to pause and react internally in order to formulate the unexpected response. There may be times, of course, especially in mystery fiction, when the experienced craftsman will purposely leave out the internalization in order to create a puzzling transaction, in order to heighten reader tension and curiosity.”

Not an Info Dump

“Now, there’s a certain logical order to follow when writing internalizations for A/R units,” says Chester. “This order exists to keep things clear for readers. It also enables writers to avoid stopping the story to drop in awkward lumps of explanation. We’re not trying to explain anything within a scene’s activity. We want to keep scene conflict snapping, moving quickly through lively back-and-forth exchanges. Instead, we acknowledge through our scene protagonist the comments or behaviors that don’t make sense and move on. Once a scene has ended, the story can pause for the scene protagonist’s reflection and explanation.”

Internalization must be motivated

“Internalization is caused by a stimulus; it doesn’t ‘just happen,” says Bickham.

Mind your POV 

“Feelings, emotion, and thought are internal responses,” says Chester. “We can’t know them unless we’re in viewpoint.” Chester says that if the viewpoint character is giving the odd reaction, he can tell us why, but if it’s another, non-POV character giving the odd reaction, then, in order to acknowledge and explain the oddity, the viewpoint character will have to internalize a guess about or demand an explanation for the odd reaction.

Ingermanson and Economy say, “Writers use two different kinds of clips, depending on whether they focus on the POV character or a non-POV character. Remember that the reader sees the POV character from inside, and has access to that character’s private thoughts and feelings. The reader sees the non-POV character form the outside, and therefore sees only the ‘public face’ of that character. So we distinguish these kinds of clips:
– Private clip: This type of clip focuses on a POV character and has access to that character’s private thoughts and feelings. In a prive clip, your reader sees the world through the POV character’s eyes. The reader sees the POV character’s actions, dialogue, interior emotion, and interior monologue privately—from the inside.
– Public clip: This type of clip focuses on a non-POV character and has access only to the publicly viewable part of the character. The reader sees the character’s actions, dialogue, and description publicly—from the outside. the reader may be able to guess the character’s thoughts and emotions from facial expressions and body language, but the reader can never know for sure what’s going on inside that character.”

Externalize the Response

Chester says, “Internalization alone cannot stimulate conflict. Therefore, it cannot be the action half of an A/R unit.”

More MRU Guidelines

Response follows Stimulus immediately

“In the simplest context, for every action, there is a reaction,” says Chester. “In scenes, when you write a character’s action—either a physical movement or dialogue—you should link an immediate reaction to it from the other character. . . . Character 1 does or says something. Character 2 does or says something in response.” 

“Therefore, the simple A/R unit requires a writer to present an action immediately followed by its direct reaction in a way that’s clear, in proper logical order, with nothing skipped, and occurring closely enough together so the relationship between the two components isn’t lost,” says Chester.

If it is Simple, Keep it Simple

Bickham says, “So when the response seems straightforward and easily understood, all you have to do as a writer is make sure both the stimulus and response are presented:
– clearly
– in the proper order
– with nothing skipped
– close together, so the relationship is not obscured.”

Use Your Paragraphs

“A very clear way to organize your A/R units and write without reader confusion is to set the action in its own paragraph. The next paragraph should carry the immediate reaction. This will help you avoid muddle, omissions, and writing out of order,” says Chester.

Bickham says, “Each time you conclude a stimulus, ordinarily, hit the return key. Make a new paragraph. The stimulus goes in one paragraph, the response in the next one. And if you must have [a character] send more than one stimulus at a whack, please remember these points:
1. All parts of one stimulus package go in the same paragraph. When the stimulus ends, the paragraph ends.
2. If more than one stimulus is sent, the responder will always react to the last stimulus sent.”

Alternatively, Ingermanson and Economy say, “You may be wondering if you must change paragraphs every time you transition to a new clip. No, you can paragraph your scenes however you want. We prefer to break paragraphs between clips for clarity. That’s the way everybody paragraphs dialogue, and we think it makes sense to do so, even when we add action, interior emotions, interior monologue, and description into the mix. Paragraph your scenes in a way that feels natural to you.”

Take Your Time

“The more intense the pressure, the more slowly and minutely you cover the action or thought, moment by moment, with nothing left out. These high points, then, may represent only minutes in story time, but, paradoxically, may require more reader time,” says Bickham.

MRU Cautions

Don’t Mess with the Order

“It’s possible that sometimes you the author might want the reader to be shocked and puzzled for a moment,” says Bickham. “You might want to create a surprising or even bizarre stimulus-response transaction as a means of creating momentary curiosity and/or suspense for the reader, planning to explain the internalization a few paragraphs or pages later.  This is perfectly fine, but it’s an advanced technique; the fact that it’s done, sometimes for very special reasons, does not obviate the fact that stimulus, internalizations and response ordinarily should be presented to the reader in their natural order. Writing them out of order can create big—or more subtle—problems.”

Don’t Omit Parts

“When you show a stimulus, you must show a response. When you want a certain response, you have to show a stimulus that will cause it,” says Bickham.

He further warns that “you can mess up stimulus-response transactions three ways:

1. You can show a stimulus and then show no external response (or perhaps one that doesn’t fit or doesn’t make sense);

2. You can show a character response when no stimulus (or no credible one) for it has been shown;  or . . .

Don’t Delay

3. You can put so much story time between stimulus and response that the logical relationship between the two events is no longer evident.”

Chester says, “You can include background and context before or after a scene. You can slide in a sentence of background or explanation inside a scene if it falls between two A/R units, but please don’t stick it in the middle of a unit. To repeat: don’t create a gap or interruption between an action and its reaction.”

“If you recall, the whole point of a scene is to keep the story moving forward. That means everything in a scene is happening quickly,” says Chester. “We don’t want to stop a scene to let a character emote at length. That’s why, even within complicated A/R units, emotion is simply a burst or a snap of raw reaction that’s then suppressed so the scene action can continue. (Once the scene is completed, you can allow your protagonist’s emotions full rein.)”

Don’t Stack

“Also, don’t get in a hurry and cram several actions together before you write a reaction,” says Chester. “. . . . it creates all sorts of problems because what should the character react to first?”

“Remember that it’s better to write a chain of A/R units than an awkward, stacked paragraph,” says Chester. “Think through what you want to happen and what you want your characters to say. Choreograph their movements. Who will do what first? What will the response be? Write it thoughtfully and logically. Just because readers race through scenes that are dramatic and filled with conflict, you needn’t attempt to create them at breakneck speed.”

Don’t Assume

“Keep in mind,” says Chester, “that author assumptions, when omitted from A/R units, are the primary reason for confusion in scenes. It’s vital that you remember your readers can only see what you supply. They can’t read your mind, and although your story action may be crystal-clear in your imagination, readers can be easily left behind.”

Bickham says, “[A]ssumptions by the author, which she forgets to put in the S&R presentation itself, are a prime cause of confusion and obscurity in such transactions. Stimulus and response provide clarity, logic and movement—but not if you assume things in your head and forget to put them down on the paper.”

Stay in the Moment

“Please note this well: stimulus is specific and immediate; background is not stimulus,” says Bickham. Stimulus is “Immediate and specific and external—not old background motivation that might have caused the action at any old time.”

To teach the point about not missing stuff and staying in the moment, Bickham asks us to provide the response to the following stimulus: “Sam dropped the lighted cigarette into the gasoline.” Go ahead. You can find the answer below.

Cause Comes Before Effect

Ingermanson and Economy say, “The only thing left is to keep stringing [the public and private clips] together though a full scene. Here’s a critical rule: Always get the time sequence correct and always put the cause before the effect. Normally, each private clip will be at least partly the cause of the public clip that follows it. Normally, each public clip will be at least partly the cause of the private clip that follows it.”

Why should I work on MRUs?

Ingermanson and Economy say, “After many years of writing and teaching fiction, we believe that the single most important secret to writing great fiction is to master the knack of writing clips well–both private clips and public clips.”

“Consider, analyze, and practice your own S&R presentations. Don’t assume they’re okay, because if you haven’t put in a lot of hard work honing your skills in this area, they probably aren’t,” says Bickham.

“Mastering this technique will help you write strong scenes,” says Chester. “A/R units sound simple and easy in explanation, but writing them correctly takes thought, care, and practice. Once you’re proficient with them, you’ll find conflict easy to achieve, and your scenes will improve steadily.”

Develop Strong Characters

With MRUs, says Bickham, “The two fighters feint and parry, maneuver, try variations of their game plan, try to gain advantage, reveal their character in what they say and do under pressure, and fight to win.” [Italics mine]

Increase Your Clarity

“A/R operates on cause-and-effect logic, which in turn ties together many elements in plotting. . . . Accordingly,” says Chester, “Action/Reaction is a mechanism in fiction that makes scene action move forward in a logical, believable, and orderly way.”

Improve Your Style

“You’ll find, incidentally, that writing good S&R copy may have a subtle impact on your style,” says Bickham. “You’ll tend to write shorter grammatical units. You will seldom—unless you intend to convey confusion—use constructions like ‘while,’ ‘as he,’ ‘at the same time as,’ because all these connote simultaneity, and in good S&R writing that just doesn’t happen: you show the cause, then you show the effect.”

Build Your Story’s Momentum

Jordan Rosenfeld says, “Momentum . . . is the beat-by-beat action that allows the story to feel as if it is unfolding in real time. Momentum helps create realism and urgency in a scene, and it involves characters engaging in some kind of action, however big or small. . . . Momentum requires time to unfold, thus creating a simulation of time passing within the scene. Momentum, another word for action, is a cue to the reader that you’re writing in scenes. When the scene lacks momentum, you’re likely stuck in summary, thoughts, or narrative explanations of some kind.”

Create Immediacy

William Noble says, “Nothing we ever write can match the dramatic impact of an event or circumstance that happens now, this instant, here! . . . We call this immediacy because the story unfolds while we watch, and the drama touches us with its contemporary spontaneity.”

Delight Your Readers

Ingermanson and Economy say, “When you alternate between private clips and public clips in your scene, the reader experiences life the way the POV character does. The private clips show the reader what’s going on inside the POV character. The public clips show the reader what the POV character sees the other characters doing.”

“If you don’t follow this pattern of development, however,” says Swain, “if you allow spots to creep in where a motivation doesn’t lead to a reaction, or a reaction flashes on sans motivation, you jar your reader, gamble with his suspension of disbelief.”

How to Check Your Work

“Look at some of your own writing,” says Bickham. “Check very carefully to make sure that you are providing causes for desired effects, showing the effects of causes already in your copy. Look, too, at your smallest stimulus-response transactions:

• For every stimulus, do you show a response?
• For every response, have you provided an immediate, external stimulus?
• In complicated transactions, have your provided the reader with an explanatory internalization?
• Are the parts presented in the correct, textbook order, except when you want to connote confusion?”

“Look at your own copy and make sure you are not leaving out the stimulus, or assuming something the reader can’t possibly know from reading your page, or writing in such a style that stimulus hits the reader’s consciousness after the response,” says Bickham.

What about Scene Sequels?

We’ll get to Sequels eventually. Until then:

Swain says, “In sequels, units of transition, and decision between scenes, action isn’t necessarily continuous.” So you may not need MRUs in sequels.

Chester says, “If your viewpoint character must react to his own actions or dialogue, wait until the scene is over to do so.”

Answer to Bickham’s question

Above, Bickham asked us to come up with the response to the following stimulus: “Sam dropped the lighted cigarette into the gasoline.”

Bickham says the response “almost has to be some variation of an orange flash, or an explosion, or flames sizzling across the tarmac or something of that nature. Fire trucks may come, Sam may be horrified, [people might run away]. But the first thing that happens must follow the cigarette hitting the gasoline.” In other words, these examples assume or anticipate that a fire will start; they react to that assumption. Don’t skip assumptions.

Top Books on Motivation-Reaction Units

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