The Writing Mistake That Makes Your Scenes Feel Aimless

One of the most frustrating problems new authors run into is a scene that checks all the right boxes but somehow feels aimless.

The characters have goals? Check. Brisk dialogue? Check. Major transformative event? Check.

Yet when the scene ends, the reader wonders Why did I just read those ten pages?

The reason why those scenes come off as pointless can easily elude readers and the author alike comes down to a common cognitive bias. Specifically, the author is too close to the material to see the root cause. And readers are emotionally invested in it. Because that emotional investment is foundational to reading.

That’s why 99 percent of new authors will go looking for flaws in the plot, when the real source of the problem is a character who occasioned the misfiring part of the plot.

The stereotype goes that right-brained creative types, like writers, have an aversion to math. Regardless, there’s a ratio that every writer should memorize: ten to one.

Read the full post on Substack.

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