The Three Essential Movements in Powerful Scenes

Drawing in your readers and keeping them engaged

Draw your readers to your words like moths to lights. Photo by Nong on Unsplash

One of my friends from college decided to take up running as a hobby not long after we graduated. When we were talking one day, she told me, “I didn’t think this would be all that expensive of a hobby. You can run without any gear. But when you’re looking at running regularly, there’s so much to think about! The right shoes and leggings and jacket and water bottle and earbuds that stay in place while running — it adds up.”

Creating a work of fiction can feel like that sometimes. Writing isn’t hard. We all write every day, whether it’s a text to a friend or a comment on social media or an email to our boss. We all tell stories, too, whether it’s how hard our day was, or the padding in our resume, or our answers to young kids when they ask where babies come from. But doing it on purpose? Regularly? There’s so much to think about.

What does the character want? How do they feel? What’s in their way? How will they grow? Balancing the pieces of a scene can be tricky.

That’s because each scene should have not one but three critical movements: scene structure, character change, and emotional change.

When I’m editing, I find new writers fall into one of two traps. The first is not…