Peter Rubie, the literary agent who wrote Telling the Story, reminds writers to choose scenes that keep the focus on protagonists and their struggles to overcome the opposition that stands between them and resolution of the complication. A good scene, he says, will: • cause a subsequent scene to occur, creating cause and effect. • be driven by the main character’s needs and wants. • explore various ploys by the character to get his own way. • include action that changes a character’s position, relative to the end of the story.
