3 Things Every Scene Must Do (Or It Doesn’t Belong) with Beth Barany and Gala Russ

Here’s a summary of what we discussed plus more!

This material is adapted from Gala Russ’s Write Your Book class.

Most writers think a scene is “something happening.” I think of it as “something changing.”

Every scene is a before and after. If the reader can’t point to the difference, the scene isn’t doing its job.

• What is the before? What is the scene question/goal?

• What is the after? What’s different by the last line?

If nothing shifts, you can:

• Eliminate that scene

• Add a clear change

• Combine with other scenes

Analyze your scene: before and after.

Scene (external action):

Goal → what the character wants right now

Conflict → what’s in the way

Disaster → things don’t go as planned

Sequel (internal processing):

Reaction → emotional response

Dilemma → now what?

Decision → what they choose next

This creates a clean chain: action → consequence → meaning → next action.

Most writers skip the sequel—or rush it—and that’s why scenes feel either:

• flat (no emotional weight)

• or chaotic (no clear progression)

If your scenes feel disconnected, it could be because the decision at the end isn’t clearly driving the next goal.

Analyze your scene: Is there an action and consequence?

An easy way to test escalation is to see if you can show if the character reached their goal by the end of the scene.

Use:

• Yes, but… (success with a cost)

• No, and… (failure that makes things worse)

This keeps:

• Tension alive

• Stakes rising

• Readers turning pages

Scenes endings that keep the tension alive, stakes rising, and keep readers turning pages don’t resolve problems but make better, more complicated ones.

Analyze scene ending for “Yes, but…” or “No, and…”

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