Internal Scene is when a writer stops action and moves from narrating the real world into rendering thought. Because the writer is no longer experiencing the outer world, there is no perception of time passing, only introspection, speculation, and reflection.
Internal Scene, Types,
Fantastic, The, is where the writer brings in invented or imagined elements to a work of creative nonfiction. Though most or all of the fantastic is untrue (and possibly impossible), the fantastic allows the reader to better understand the mind and emotions of a narrator. This understanding comes from what we learn about why the narrator invents and imagines, which is what we all do most of the day: we imagine, we invent, we create. And the fantastic, though invented, should lean into the emotional truths of a situation.
Introspection is a narrator examining their current feelings or state of mind. Introspection is generally less about situations and more about the emotions that arise from situations. Introspection is less about the past and more about the current state of the narrator or character.
Reflection is contemplating, meditating, or ruminating on an idea or event that has already occurred. The term reflection also means, scientifically, the echo of sound or light waves off a surface. Reflection is not the situation explored in our creative nonfiction but the echo of that situation.
Speculation is envisioning either past, current, or future events based on knowledge at hand. Speculation allows a character to re-imagine a past, present, or future situation from their own perspective or from other people’s perspectives. And this is something that everyone does every day.
Research also gives the feeling of internal scene. When a writer properly places research into creative nonfiction, readers experience the writer’s mind in active thought. Further, research also helps the reader see the connections the writer is making, which, again, offers internal scene.
