Measure

Value shift

You might say: scene turn, polarity shift

The change in a value-charged condition, such as safe to hunted, between the start and the end of a scene. McKee calls a scene that does not turn a nonevent.

What it does

Checks that each scene earns its place.

Ask

What value is at stake, and is it plus or minus at each end of the scene?

Typical

Plus to minus, or minus to plus; the same charge at both ends means no turn

Trouble

A scene starts and ends in the same place.

Sources

1. Robert McKee, “Do Your Scenes Turn?”, official site; scene value shiftThe scene has activity—talking about this, doing that—but nothing changes in value. It is a nonevent.

Use it on your project

teardown-apply: hold "Value shift" (value-shift) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/fiction-writing/ against my project

Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.

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