How to End a Scene

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by James Scott Bell
@jamesscottbell

John Gilstrap, r., with aspiring writer

Had a great last week with Mrs. B. We traveled back east to visit my big brother, whom I hadn’t seen in years. We also visited some old friends. Our final stop was at a house in the woods of West Virginia, where a writer named Gilstrap and his lovely wife Joy make their home, along with guard dog Kimber. As we relaxed and chatted, listening to the breeze in the trees (as opposed to the sirens on the streets), the talk naturally turned to writing. One of the topics was the perennial question: Can someone learn to write a novel by studying the craft?

You all know my answer to that, because that was my experience. I related that it was something I read in Jack Bickham’s book Writing Novels That Sell that set off paparazzi light bulbs going off in my head. It had to do with what a scene is, and especially how to end it so a reader must turn the page.

Now, a scene has three component parts: Objective, Obstacles, and Outcome.

Objective

A novel is about a character using strength of will to attain a crucial objective. For example, in The Fugitive, the wrongly convicted Dr. Richard Kimble must avoid being captured, or he’ll be sent to Death Row for a murder he did not commit. To exonerate himself—and get justice for his murdered wife—he needs to stay free long enough to find the one-armed man who killed her.

Each scene in the film has a sub-objective that connects to the big one. Thus, early on, the wounded Kimble has to sneak into a rural hospital and treat himself, without arousing suspicion. Later he poses as a janitor in a hospital in Chicago with the objective of gaining access to the records of the prosthetics wing. Why? So he can get a list of one-armed men to track down.

Obstacles

Conflict and tension are the lifeblood of a scene. When the viewpoint character is confronted with obstacles to gaining his scene objective—in the form of opposing characters, physical barriers, time pressure, or all three—things get tense.

In the rural hospital scene from The Fugitive, Kimble must sneak past the loading dock and find a treatment room. After stitching himself up, he needs to shave off his beard and steal some clothes. He does this in the room of a patient who is out like a light. But a nurse walks into the room! And a state trooper has arrived because Kimble might be in the area! The tension mounts as we worry about his cover being blown at any moment.

Outcome

A scene has to end at some point, and needs to answer the question: did the viewpoint character realize his objective?

Bickham lists four types of endings: Yes, Yes But, No, No and Furthermore! 

A NO answer is always a good default, because it makes the character’s situation worse. When a character is set back in his quest, the reader’s worry mounts. And that is what readers want to do: worry about characters in crisis all the way to the end.

A YES needs to happen on occasion, but when it does, brainstorm how it can lead to more trouble, turning it into a YES BUT. For example, in the scene in The Fugitive where Kimble poses as a janitor, he is temporarily stuck on a crowded trauma floor. He spots a little boy in distress. When a doctor tells him to take the boy to an observation room, Kimble has a scene objective: Help this boy! As he pushes the gurney Kimble sneaks a look at the X-rays and the chart, and starts asking the boy diagnostic questions. He determines the boy needs surgery right away. In the elevator he changes the orders and takes the boy to an operating room. He alerts a doctor and shows her the orders. The boy will be saved! That’s a YES answer. However, his earlier look at the X-rays was seen by the doctor who asked him to help. She confronts him and calls security. Now Kimble is outed and has to get out of there! He’s in worse shape because of his good deed. That’s a big BUT to the YES.

The “but” in a YES BUT and the “furthermore” in a NO AND FURTHERMORE can also be a portentous question hanging over the proceedings, a hint of something worse yet to come. You leave the situation temporarily unresolved (a “cliffhanger”) and cut to another scene (perhaps with another viewpoint character). If you write in First Person POV or Limited Third Person (meaning one viewpoint character throughout the book) you can end a chapter on a cliffhanger and finish it up in the following chapter.

Now, to some aspiring scribes this might seem overly technical, perhaps with the reaction, “I don’t want to think about what I’m doing, I just want to do it!” Which is sort of like an apprentice plumber saying, “Don’t fill my head with how to use an augur, a pipe wrench, a drain inspection camera, or plumber’s putty. I’ve got my plunger, now get out of the way!”

Those few pages in Bickham’s book were easy to understand and put into practice. Which is when my fiction began to get favorable attention and, eventually, a publishing contract.

Bickham, like his mentor Dwight Swain, also writes of the “sequel” portion, which is generally about emotion (regarding the setback), analysis of what’s happening, and a decision on what to do next. But that’s a subject for another time.

And here is how you end a blog post: Comments are open.

17 thoughts on “How to End a Scene”

  1. A former writing partner called chapter endings “landings” and we strive to make them page turners. For me, it’s often a question which I may or may not know the answer to at the time. Figuring it out is part of the challenge and part of the fun. Recent draft chapter ending had someone coming to the door shouting “I know you’re in there.” My POV character was upstairs in her room, so she didn’t see who was shouting, but since she’s in hiding, it (I hope) created some tension and will have readers turning the page. Which, since I write dual POVs, will have to wait until after the other POV character has his turn. By then, I should know who’s at the door and what he wants.

    • That’s always a great way to stretch suspense, cutting away to another POV. Since I write my series in First, I have other strategies….like a time jump, leaving the reader wondering hey, what happened? Then dropping that in later. Or a thought delay, my Lead with a short emotional relfection before returning to the action.

  2. Bickham’s books are my favorite craft texts, except for this other guy named Bell. 😉

    Kidding aside, the reason both of you make sense to me is you take a complex topic and break it down into small parts that are easily understandable and build on one another.

    Scenes that end with Yes But or No and Furthermore make me turn the page every time.

    Thanks for a good Sunday morning start, Jim.

    • Bickham’s terms are clever and easy to understand. Some people object that this sounds too “technical,” but when you read books that work as page turners, you’ll find they all employ these scene endings.

  4. Nice picture. Sounds like a wonderful trip.

    I first learned about Jack Bickham’s books here at TKZ (probably from one of your blog posts, Jim.) Writing Novels That Sell and Scene and Structure have special places on my bookshelves. There’s so much to think about when writing a scene, but your O-O-O mnemonic is a great way to remember Objective, Obstacles, and Outcome.

    Thanks for a strong start to the week.

  5. Yep. I have a Scene Summary outline, and Dr. Bell’s Objective-Obstacles-Outcome are right there in the middle of each scene’s notes. Very helpful.

    And nice photo, although kinda crooked!

  6. Terrific advice, Jim. I’m a fan of Bickham as well—his “Scene and Structure” really helped me early on when I finally started on “the path of writing craft,” along with your own “Plot and Structure.”

    “No and furthermore,” and “yes, but” are my two favorite scene outcomes, and especially, as you pointed out, if left “hanging over the proceedings” as a cliff hanger to impel the reader forward.

    Great photo of you with John. Glad you could visit him.

  7. I read both Bickham and Swain when I was beginning my writing journey, and neither made sense to me because it was a static concept. They were not my light bulb moment. Ben Bova’s book on craft was. It wasn’t about the scene structure but about the emotional/plot structure. Each scene was part of that structure. My idea of scene was that it should answer three total questions for the reader about the character and plot, but at least one important question should be asked by the end of the scene which would pull the reader forward. Other smaller and larger questions were still in play.

    I created my own methodology to teach my students. A work of fiction should be a series of interlocking questions. These questions are links in a chain that pulls the reader through each scene and through the novel.

    • Marilynn, I do like the term “interlocking.” Everything needs to relate to the whole.

      Ending a scene with a “question” is one way to think of it. I like Bickham/Swain’s idea of “disaster.” For me that creates the most forward momentum.

  8. The “aspiring writer” under the photo cracks me up, Jim! Great photo. And another important lesson. Swain’s scene/sequel and MRUs elevated my writing to the next level. Good stuff.

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