Give Every Scene a Purpose
By Dondi M. Day ·
A scene can have lovely sentences and still leave a reader wondering why it is there. The problem is often not the prose. It is the absence of a clear purpose. Something needs to happen beyond the reader learning that the room has blue curtains.
Start with the person whose experience organizes the scene. What do they want right now? Not their lifelong ambition: the immediate objective. They might need a signature, a ride across the sound, or an honest answer from someone who would rather change the subject.
Put resistance in the way
An objective becomes interesting when it meets resistance. That resistance does not have to be a villain. A closing office, an awkward obligation, a broken vehicle, or the character’s own pride may be enough. Choose an obstacle that belongs to this story rather than adding an argument simply to make noise.
Then identify the change. Perhaps the character gets the answer but loses a friend’s trust. Perhaps the request fails and reveals a new problem. The outcome should alter what the character knows, can do, or is willing to risk.
Try it on one page
Above a scene in your draft, write three lines: wants, resistance, result. Be specific. “She wants to feel better” is difficult to dramatize; “she wants her brother to return the key” gives the scene something concrete to work with.
If all three lines are blank, do not automatically delete the scene. It may contain material another scene needs. Move the useful detail, combine two encounters, or give the conversation a consequence. Revision becomes easier when you know what the scene is supposed to accomplish.