Scene Craft
Scene craft is the skill of writing fiction readers can see — grounding action in physical detail, sensory specificity, and controlled point of view so a scene plays in a reader’s mind like a movie rather than reading like a summary. These posts break down the mechanics behind that skill: visual verb choice, physical grounding, pacing, and point-of-view control. They come out of the Show, Don’t Tell course and fifteen-plus years of coaching novelists, building on training at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. If you’ve heard “show, don’t tell” a hundred times but still don’t know how to execute it on the page, start here.
Sentence Structure in Fiction: How to Write Stronger Scenes One Sentence at a Time
What Is Sentence Structure?
Sentence structure in fiction is how you put together your words, phrases, clauses, and use sentence lengths to control a reader’s experience. Novelists use sentence structure to shape pacing, build tension, emphasize important moments, and develop narrative voice.
The most important element of Sentence Structure is control. To keep your reader connected, it’s important[…]
Make Readers See Your Scenes
The Best Books Make Readers See Their Scenes.
Yours Can, Too.
There’s a reason certain books get finished and certain books get put down.
It’s not the premise. It’s not the genre. It’s not even the writing, exactly — not[…]
I’ve Told You to Show, Not Tell. Here’s the Rest of the Lesson
You already know the rule. Every writing teacher, every craft book, every workshop you’ve ever sat in has said it: show, don’t tell. And if you’ve been working on your writing for any length of time, you’ve probably internalized it. You’ve cut the adverbs. You’ve replaced “she was nervous” with a physical action. You’ve learned[…]
The Hidden Cost of Point of View Shifts: Why Your Reader Capital Matters
Every time you switch point of view in your novel, you’re asking your reader to make an adjustment. They have to leave one character’s head, reorient themselves, and settle into someone new. This cognitive shift isn’t free—it costs something I call reader capital.
Understanding this cost, and learning how to minimize it, can make the difference[…]
The Reader-Writer Curve: What’s Actually on the Page vs. What’s in Your Head
Why writers struggle with the assumption gap—and how to bridge it.
[Ideas in this post come from Frank Conroy’s essay “The Writers’ Workshop”—Featured in Dogs Bark, but the Caravan Rolls On.]
“I definitely write with assumptions,” a writer told me recently. “I assume my reader knows what I’m talking about.”
He’d just discovered something that trips up most[…]
Your Character Needs a Body
Immersive fiction depends less on what a character sees and more on what they physically do.
A writer sent me the opening pages of her novel recently. The setup was strong — a complicated woman arriving at a place she didn’t want to be, surrounded by people who weren’t sure she belonged. The atmosphere was tense,[…]
What “Trust the Reader” Actually Looks Like on the Page
The phrase “trust the reader” gets repeated in writing workshops constantly, but it’s rarely defined in practical terms.
I was reading a client’s chapter recently — a scene where two men sit down to negotiate a backroom deal in 1950s Havana. There’s no shouting. No guns on the table. One of them lights a[…]
Build the Bridge: 3 Kinds of Transitions
Thank you to Jane Friedman for sharing this post on her blog last week.
A writer recently told me she was struggling with her memoir structure. She’d written scenes about a difficult period in her life, and she wanted to include a memory from several years earlier that provided important context.
“How do I make[…]
Static vs. Dynamic Description Part 2: Implementation Strategies
This is the second part of our exploration of static versus dynamic description. In part one, we defined these concepts and explained why dynamic description matters for reader engagement.
The Overcompensation Problem in Dynamic Description
When writers first attempt to transition from static to dynamic description, they often fall into what I call “the compressed action[…]
Static vs. Dynamic Description: Understanding the Difference
One of the most transformative changes writers can make to elevate their prose is mastering the distinction between static and dynamic description. This seemingly subtle difference fundamentally changes how readers experience your story world and connect with your characters.
During a recent coaching session with a crime fiction writer, I found myself repeatedly drawn to this[…]
When Scene Work Becomes Instinct
What happens when a writer stops fighting the immersive approach and starts trusting it.
Many fiction writers struggle to move from checklist writing to immersive scene work — and the shift often changes not just their prose, but their entire writing experience.
“I’m relaxed,” a writer told me during our recent session. “I’m not trying[…]
Writing in Scene: Why It Makes Fiction More Engaging (and More Fun to Write)
The surprising relationship between scene work and creative joy.
Many fiction writers struggle with scene vs. summary — defaulting to information dumps instead of putting readers inside lived moments.
“That’s more fun to write than a list of information,” a client said after rewriting his opening chapter. He’d just discovered something that transforms the writing experience: staying[…]
Your Character’s Secret Superpower: Being Present
A writing craft technique for fiction writers who want stronger, more immersive scenes.
Here’s a superpower you can give your character that readers instinctively respond to:
The ability to stay fully present in every scene.
No internal static.
No constant analysis.
Just clear, grounded attention to what’s happening right now.
The temptation is to explain everything through internal thought. But often,[…]
