Whatever the scene conflict, it must arise organically as an obstacle to the goal. A random spat with the camp bully may offer conflict, but if it doesn’t endanger the protagonist’s ability to achieve his scene goal, then it isn’t the specific scene conflict you’re looking

if you’re going to have a character fire a gun later in the book, that gun should be introduced in the First Act.

reason for the ultimate failure of everything he’s tried up to this point is that he has yet to face his deepest fear or doubt—whatever it is that’s holding him back from transforming himself into a new person.

shortening the scenes and chapters in the final

the other question you have to ask yourself is, “Should the stakes be this high?”

It’s not enough to merely mention whatever is at stake for your characters. You must also take the time to develop it.

there is one trick that can make a world of difference in your presentation of that final quarter. This technique is nothing more or less than shortening the scenes and chapters in the final quarter of the story. Doing so creates a speed and urgency as the story darts back and forth between the important actions of multiple POV characters,

Like scene goals, scene conflict offers endless possibilities. Conflict can come in a variety of flavors, but most can be sorted into the following categories: 1. Direct opposition (another character, weather, etc., which interferes with and prevents the protagonist from achieving his goal). 2. Inner opposition (the character learns something that

The strength of backstory is its looming shadow.