What to Do When a Scene Derails 🚂

Seven questions to get your novel back on track

Hi writing friends,

Sitting at my writing desk last week, I was hitting a creative wall in my story. My scene was at a stalemate, and I struggled to figure out the next right move for my characters.

Based on my conversations with authors over the past two decades, I knew I was not alone in this experience. (You, too?) But it was so frustrating to stare at the screen, write a sentence, stare at the screen some more, and then delete the sentence I just wrote. In moments like this, I might as well go do some laundry, and let me tell you that laundry is not my favorite thing.

Then I remembered seven questions I developed as part of a workshop I taught at the San Francisco Writers Conference last year. I worked through the questions, and the answers helped to give me some big picture focus on this pesky scene.

If you’re struggling with a scene, take some time to work through these seven questions, and let me know if they help! 👇

Go back to the basics

If you find yourself in the weeds of a scene, take a step back from the page and ask yourself these questions:

1. What is the purpose of this scene? This is a bit of a trick question because there is only one answer. 😉 The purpose of a scene should always be to move the story forward. If a scene is not fulfilling that purpose, it could be why you’re feeling off about it to begin with.

2. What is my character’s goal in this scene? The goal of the scene likely has to do with your character’s immediate concerns, which could be internal or external. For example, external concerns might be finding shelter after an earthquake while internal concerns might be a need for safety.

3. What is the most important information that needs to be revealed? When we get right down to it, storytelling is about conveying information to the reader, and the reader should receive new information with each scene. It could be large or small—a character receiving a job offer or learning that they were adopted or realizing that they lost their favorite earrings.

4. What is the main conflict? I like to think of a scene as a mini story. Just as a story has a beginning, middle, and end with conflict that builds toward a climactic moment, so too should a scene. A scene without any conflict is not pulling its weight in the story, and it would be a candidate for deletion.

5. What is at stake for my protagonist? With conflict comes consequences. If your characters are experiencing obstacles in this scene (and they should!), what are the stakes if they don’t overcome those obstacles? The consequences can be large (the end of a marriage, the death of a loved one, the fate of the world) or small (ruining dinner, failing a test).

6. What are my characters’ emotions at the start of the scene and at the end of the scene? Scenes are the building blocks of your story, and each scene moves the needle forward in some way. As the plot advances within the scene, it should impact your characters’ feelings. In other words, your characters enter the scene feeling something and what happens in the scene will shift their emotions in some way. This isn’t to say that they need to move from elation to despair (although it’s possible), but there should be some change that readers can understand and recognize.

7. What is this scene’s “therefore?” If scenes build on one another, then they should be connected. Scene A impacts Scene B which leads to Scene C. South Park creator Trey Parker says that a story is NOT this happened and this happened. It is a series of this happened therefore this happened, therefore this happened. “Therefore” connects the scenes in a cause-and-effect way.

How do you get your scenes back on track? Questions and comments are open to all.

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Setting and place are a collection of details—the right details in the right amount—that will captivate readers. We will uncover the ways to use place and setting to make your story sing. We'll discuss how to make the setting a natural extension of your characters and how to choose the right descriptive details.

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By the end of this class, you will gain an understanding of successful, vivid description; learn the magic of precise, concrete details; learn how to use setting to move your story forward; and understand how description affects atmosphere, mood, and tone.

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