At the same time your readers expect a great story rich in detail and emotional tugs. Sometimes when we rush to get the story done, those rich details get left behind as we follow the story outline or what comes next in our head.
Scene Essentials

• Is it a proactive or reactive scene?
• Who is the main point-of-view character?
• How do they feel, what emotions are running through the POV character?
• Have you covered at least three of the five senses?
• What’s the setting? Have you given the reader a feel for the surroundings?
• Is the pacing balanced? Dialogue, Action, Narrative.

Next, Consider where your scene is in the overall story. Then, examine the elements of the scene and how it fits in the overall story line. If it doesn’t move the story forward, don’t spend more time editing or adding to the scene. Cut the scene.

• If the story is moving slowly, add dialogue to speed it up.
• Use narrative of dialogue or a combination of the two to add character background. Be certain to refrain from information dump. Add a piece or two at a time.
• If the scene is mostly dialogue intersperse some action or narrative, or both.
• Use dialogue to get a character out of his or her head.
• If the scene is top heavy in one scene element–narrative, dialogue, action–balance it out by adding the other two elements

Zara Altair