This post was first published in March 2016 and last revised/updated in October 2026.

A scene is an individual unit of story.

You might think of a scene as a building block within your novel. Some are longer than others, some are more critical than others, but they all build on one another as they work towards the ending.

What is a Scene in a Short Story or Novel? (Scene Definition)

Most writers have a good grasp of what a scene is (and we might describe a favourite part of a book we’ve read as “the scene where…”)

Here’s how I’d define a scene, very briefly: A scene is a sequence of events, taking place continuously, in which something changes in a meaningful way for the story.

Here are a few other explanations: as you’ll see, they all pick up similar points about the action being fairly continuous and a change in the story being important.

A scene is a sequence where a character or characters engage in some sort of action and/or dialogue. Scenes should have a beginning, middle, and end (a mini-story arc), and should focus around a definite point of tension that moves the story forward.

Teach Yourself How to Write a Blockbuster, by Lee Weatherly and Helen Corner (pg 40, 2006 edition)

By “scene” we mean here all that is included in an unbroken flow of action from one incident in time to another [...] The action within a scene is ‘unbroken’ in the sense that it does not include a major time lapse or a leap from one setting to another – though the characters may, of course, walk or ride from one place to another without breaking the scene, the camera, so to speak, dollying after them.

The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers, John Gardner (pg 59, 1991 edition)

For me, a scene is a unit of story in which something changes. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and at the end something is different than it was at the beginning. It may be a character or a situation, or just our understanding of a character or a situation, but whatever it is, it's changed when the scene is over.

What’s a Scene (And What’s A Chapter?), Timothy Hallinan, TimothyHallinan.com

Some writers think of scenes as chapters, starting a new chapter for each new scene.

That can work, but you may well have times when you want to have multiple scenes per chapter, or split a scene across two chapters. (If you want more help with this, take a look at What is a Scene vs a Chapter?)

The Ingredients of a Scene

Normally, scenes will include the following elements:

• At least one character, taking action (even if that action is primarily internal – e.g. making a decision).
• If more than one character, dialogue between them. This dialogue should either advance the action or reveal character – ideally, both.
• A description of the characters’ surroundings. Where are they – and how does their environment affect the action and/or dialogue taking place? (An argument in the kitchen at home is going to be different from an argument in a crowded, noisy pub.)
• Conflict or complications, leading to the “point of tension” that Lee Weatherly and Helen Corner refer to in the quote above. Conflict doesn’t have to mean an argument or physical fight: it could be more subtle (a passive-aggressive comment) or conflict with something inanimate (a machine going wrong; terrible weather). It could also be internal conflict (fears; self-doubt).
• Rising emotion or tension. Don’t start with a high point and then let your scene become less interesting from there! The action doesn’t have to get physically more intense, though: you might, for instance, have a physical struggle followed by a high-stakes argument. K.M. Weiland has some great, in-depth thoughts about the emotional arc of scenes here.
• A strong ending: don’t let the scene peter out. (I am indebted to Lorna Fergusson here for her advice to “get in late, get out early” with scenes.) If you’re revising an already-written scene, you might want to try cutting the last paragraph or the last couple of lines of dialogue.
• Some kind of link to the next scene: whether direct (your protagonist decides to stand up to their nasty boss, and the next scene shows this confrontation) or indirect (one scene ends with a character hungry; the next starts with a different character feasting).

By the end of the scene, something should be different from at the start – even if this is only in a small way. Having scenes where nothing changes will slow the pace and leave the reader wondering when you’re going to get on with the story.

So, how do you put together a good scene?

A Quick Note on the “Scene and Sequel” Story Writing Technique

There’s a particular story-writing technique where you produce “scenes” followed by “sequels”. The terminology gets a bit confusing here, as most people would call both types “scenes” and some people consider them to be two halves of a scene (essentially, action and reaction).

This technique originated with Dwight Swain, and you can find plenty of articles explaining it online, like this one from Advanced Fiction Writing.

It’s not how I pattern my scenes personally, though I think it includes helpful elements. If it’s a technique you want to explore, K.M. Weiland has a handy series of articles about scene structure here.

Planning and Structuring Your Novel’s Scenes

You’ve probably read fiction – whether published or in a writers’ workshop – with a scene that:

• Started off well but then dragged on way too long – you started skipping pages to get to the next interesting bit.
• Confused the heck out of you – it took ages to figure out what was going on (and there was no good reason for the author to leave you puzzling).
• Took ages to get into the actual action, with a lot of tedious thinking and soul-searching from characters before they did anything.

All these problems are best solved by having a clear idea of the next big plot point you’re working towards.

When I’m writing without a plan, I’m tempted to carry on with “what logically happens next” or to visit a character we’ve not heard from recently – regardless of whether “what happens next” actually forms a scene, or whether that character has anything interesting to do or say.

When you evaluate the scenes that you’ve planned (or the ones you’ve already draft), ask yourself:

#1: What changes during this scene?

If you cut the scene entirely, would the story still work fine? If so, it probably shouldn’t exist. (Sorry!)

#2: How can you do more with this scene?

Perhaps your scene feels a bit lacking. Can you bring in an extra complication, create a particular mood, work in some necessary backstory, or put a character under greater emotional or physical strain?

#3: How does this scene link to the one before and/or the one after?

For instance, does it set up the inciting event (inciting incident) that’s about to happen in the next scene? Is it building towards the climax? Are you going for a particular resonance or a note of irony by juxtaposing one character’s actions, speech, or thoughts with another’s?

#4: Could this scene be placed earlier or later in the novel?

Should it be? What else would change? Keep in mind this may involve a change in location as well as having the scene positioned at a different stage of your protagonist’s character arc.

#5: Is this scene too repetitive?

Have you got an earlier passage that does something similar? This happens all too easily if you’re writing over an extended period of time, and it can make your story feel a bit bogged down.

#6: Have you chosen the best location for the scene?

If a scene is flat or dull in its current setting, relocating it could add extra drama and tension. For instance, two characters arguing at home might peter out too fast with one storming off; two characters arguing on a long, crowded bus journey have fewer options.

#7: Does the scene start too early?

If you have a lot of internal thought or chit-chat dialogue at the start, get into the scene later: at the point at which the rising action begins.

#8: Does the scene end too late?

This can be a temptation if you’re using a scene-and-sequel structure. Unless you’re writing in a genre where readers like this, avoid having a long drawn-out section of your character angsting over what to do next. End the scene and move forward.

#9: Is the action over too quickly?

It’s tricky to judge the pace of a scene while you’re writing, because writing out the words takes so much longer than reading them. But even if you’re writing an action scene, readers won’t want it to rush by too fast: they want to enjoy all the excitement.

#10: Does the action drag on too long?

Watch out for scenes that meander back and forth without really progressing, or scenes that involve lots of thinking and not much doing. And finally, a bonus one:

#11: Does the scene involve a chat over tea/coffee?

Any scene I’ve ever attempted to set in a coffee shop has ended up being cut (or swiftly relocated). Yes, it might be realistic for your characters to sit down and have a civilised conversation over a nice cuppa ... but unless you’re writing in a particularly cosy genre, you might need to choose a slightly more exciting setting.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it's a great place to start. To go even further, check out my piece on writing stronger scenes by adding depth and detail. For help editing scenes you’ve already written, take a look at Editing Essentials ($10) or pop your email address below for the quick reference guide.

Planning and Writing Your Next Scene

When you next sit down to work on a scene, write down three to seven bullet points that describe what’s going to happen. This is a good tool for (a) figuring out if you’re going to have too little or too much going on within the scene and (b) keeping you on track as you write it.

Editing Guide, Scene-by-Scene Spreadsheet, and More

Want more help with your scenes? Pop in your email address to get access to all my free resources, including:

• The Quick Reference Guide from Editing Essentials: goes through 20 common mistakes (with dialogue, narrative, and more) so you can hone your scenes.
• My personal Scene-by-Scene Spreadsheet: this lets you keep track of your scenes as you draft/redraft a novel, with space for crucial details like time, location, and POV.

You'll get access to other free resources (my “Make Time to Write” workbook, writing prompts, Novel Structure worksheet and more). You’ll also receive my email newsletters and blog posts. Unsubscribe at any time.

Back in January, I set out my writing goals for 2026, and wrote about how these were going at the end of Q1 and the end of Q2.

We’re three-quarters of the way through the year now and the last few months have been busy ones! Here’s what’s been happening.

The 2026 goals I set in January (and tweaked halfway through the year) are:

• Big Fiction Project: Finish My Rom-Com Contemporary Romance Novel and Send Out to Agents
• Other Fiction Projects: Short Stories, Reaper, and a Writing Streak
• Non-Fiction: Aliventures Blog, Newsletter … and More

Q3 Progress on Big Fiction Project

At the end of Q2, I’d started on Draft 4 of the novel. During Q3, I finished Draft 4, Draft 5, and now I’m doing Draft 6 – which I very much hope will be the final draft! I also wrote four drafts of my cover letter / query letter, and two drafts of a synopsis.

As always, I’d like to be going faster: the July heatwaves, August trips (including two fantastic weeks in the USA with my parents & kids), and a busy run of things in September have slowed me down a little.

What Worked (And Why?)

As before, I used the writing hours and momentum writing retreats in Writers’ Cafe to work on the novel: having the time set aside on my calendar makes a huge difference.

When working on the query letter, I found Lauren Kay’s free on-demand masterclass really helpful and insightful. I knew the broad structure of a query letter, but this helped make sense of what’s going to appeal to an agent. (Her Instagram account is a great source of querying advice, too.)

I also did more time blocking, as mentioned in my plans at the end of Q2, and I think this was helpful for making sure I was actually writing during writing hours!

What Didn’t Work and What I’m Trying Next

I found that with Draft 4 → Draft 5, and Draft 5 → Draft 6, I struggled with focus during any writing sessions longer than about 20 minutes.

These are very much my fine-tuning drafts (swap out an overused word here, tweak the punctuation there). I like doing this! But I think because I’ve written this novel fairly fast – I started the first draft on 20th May 2025 – I’m feeling like I’ve read these sentences a lot.

I’m trying to edit in shorter bursts, using timers during longer writing sessions, and I’m planning to keep up my energy & focus during the next Writers’ Cafe momentum retreat (this Saturday!) by doing a mix of editing this novel and brainstorming for the next one.

The other thing that’s not worked … is not having a title! I still don’t know what to call this novel. So when I’m brainstorming something new on Saturday, I’m coming up with titles right at the start of the process.

Q3 Progress on Other Fiction Projects

I gave up on the daily writing streak, but I’m still working on fiction most days (usually 5+ days out of 7) and have not felt any renewed inspiration for short stories. So the only project I’m working on is self-publishing my contemporary fantasy novel Reaper.

I got some great feedback on the blurb (thank you Writers’ Cafe members!) and the next steps are to commission the cover design, come up with a simple launch plan, and get it out there into the world.

What Worked (And Why?)

Getting feedback on the blurb was super-helpful … it’s hard when I’m so close to the story to get a sense of how it comes across (and how to make it sound enticing).

What Didn’t Work (And What I’m Trying Next)

I’ve been so busy with all the drafts of my contemporary romance that Reaper keeps getting forgotten. Plus, things like contacting a cover designer and coming up with a launch plan don’t feel like “real” writing activity!

In Q4, I’m going to try devoting one weekly writing session (even if it’s just a short one) to making progress towards the launch.

Q3 Progress on Non-Fiction

Over the summer, I always take some time off from the blog and newsletter. I’ve not got back to these quite as consistently as I’d have liked since then!

I’m continuing to post short-form content on both Instagram and LinkedIn, so do follow me there for bite-size inspiration, writing tips, and more.

What Worked (And Why?)

Time blocking has been helpful, and I probably would have had even less consistency without it! I’m going to keep doing that, especially on busy days or days when I don’t have as much time at my desk as usual.

What Didn’t Work (And What I’m Trying Next)

I want to start drafting blog posts further ahead, as it’s easy to run out of time towards the end of the week. I’m also hoping to build up a little stock of photos I can use on social media, as I feel like it’s taking me ages to create some posts and I’m sure I end up over-thinking it.

How’s 2026 been for you? If you’re working on a novel and it’s not been going as fast as you want, I’ve now got a free on-demand workshop available for you: Four Roadblocks Holding You Back from Finishing Your Novel.

We go through the four most common roadblocks I see writers running up against (two of those are life-related and two are writing-related) … and we cover specific steps you can take to navigate around those roadblocks.

Starting a novel can feel really daunting … but finishing one is a whole lot harder still. There’s an awful lot of ground to cover between writing “Chapter One” and writing “The End”.

Since you’re reading a blog post on how to finish a novel, I’m going to assume that:

• You’ve got a novel idea (that you like!)
• You’ve made a start on Draft One

(If you’re not at that stage yet, try my post on developing a strong novel idea.)

Most writers, when they start their novel, are intending to finish it. I’ve never met a writer who only wanted to write two chapters of a novel, then abandon it.

In fact, quite the opposite. Writers who are starting off might feel daunted by the scale of the task ahead – but they’re also excited about finishing, and they’re usually expecting to complete a first draft within a year, maybe even in 3–6 months.

That’s often not quite how it pans out.

Many first-time novelists spend multiple years on Draft One, often with long gaps (months or even years) when they’re not working on it. If that’s you, please know this is very normal.

So what gets in the way? For most writers, it’s a combination of busyness or disruption in their life, plus getting stuck in the story itself.

In my work as a writing coach, in my Writers’ Cafe group, and in my own experience, these are the four big things I see coming up the most:

• Demands: Everything on your to-do list! Whether it’s a paid job, household chores, volunteering, or anything else, it takes up time.
• Distractions: Not little ones, like scrolling social media – but the big things that take up a lot of headspace, like world events, a loved one’s illness, parenting, and much more.
• Disorientation: Feeling lost in your story – not knowing what should happen next (or even how far through the story you are).
• Doubt: A lack of self-confidence; worrying that the writing – or the story itself – just isn’t good enough or isn’t worth finishing.

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Want to dig deeper into all of these and come out with a clear plan to tackle whichever one is most prominent for you? Come to my free workshop “Four Roadblocks Holding You Back from Finishing Your Novel” on Monday 12th October. It’s suitable for writers at any stage of a novel, even if you haven’t started drafting. Just click that link for details and to book your free spot.

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Where Novelists Typically Get Stuck on Their Way to the Finish Line

Before we take a look at practical tips for getting all the way to “The End” of your novel, I want to run through the stages where I commonly see writers getting bogged down in a first or second draft.

The First One to Three Chapters

It’s very common to get around 1–3 chapters into a novel and then stall at that point. I’ve seen writers go through this with multiple novels in a row: starting off with an idea they’re excited about, diving into the draft, then stopping within the first three or so chapters.

So why does this happen? Often, because the start of your novel is (relatively) clear in your mind before you begin. You know you need to hook the reader in with something interesting – perhaps an unanswered question, an unusual character voice, or a shocking event. And you know you need to introduce your protagonist plus key supporting characters early on.

But after that … it may not be clear what happens next. This is probably because you don’t have a clear inciting event: the catalyst for your story, traditionally around the 10–12% mark (though it can come a bit earlier).

If you’re stuck in the first three chapters, ask yourself what kicks off the story. What shatters the status quo – the protagonist’s day-to-day life at the start of the book – and introduces the world of the story?

The 20,000 Word Mark

Another really common sticking point is around 20,000 words into a novel (so much so that I ran a whole workshop for Writers’ Cafe on the “20,000 Word Danger Zone”).

An average-length novel is around 80,000 words – meaning that 20,000 words is about a quarter of the way into your novel. If you take a look at my seven-point novel structure chart here, you’ll see this is the end of Act One and the start of Act Two – the first “plot point” in your novel.

At this plot point, something changes for your protagonist, irrevocably. The inciting event broke the status quo: this plot point draws them firmly into the world of the story – pushing your protagonist into reaction mode up until the midpoint.

If you’re stuck around 20,000 words, ask yourself what needs to happen to your protagonist here. It might be a “point of no return” for them, where they now can’t turn their back on the story.

The Messy Middle

The middle of a novel can feel like a long, confusing slog. Perhaps you have a bunch of scenes but you’re not sure exactly where they should go, or maybe you’ve been writing material that’s more like connective summaries between scenes (or characters’ musings).

Again, this is generally a structural issue. The middle of your story (Act Two) needs specific plot points. The biggest of these are the first plot point right at the start of Act Two, the midpoint (also called the second plot point) in the centre – around the 50% mark of your novel – and the third plot point at the 75% mark.

If your middle sags, it’s often because you’ve got a missing or delayed midpoint. This is such a vital part of your story, where something happens to jolt your protagonist from reaction into action. It’s when they take charge of their own fate.

The Ending

If you make it past the messy middle to the 75% mark of the story, you’re almost certainly going to finish it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard from a writer who got that far and didn’t finish the draft!

Around the 75% mark, your protagonist is going to have their darkest hour: something will happen where we think all hope is gone. But one way or another, they’ll battle forward, the tension rising inexorably until the climax of the story (some kind of showdown between the protagonist and antagonist), before everything gets wrapped up in the resolution.

If you get stuck here, remember, this is just a draft. Your climax is one of the two scenes of your novel that will likely need the most rewriting. Write it however it comes out, and you can layer in more complexity, drama, and tension in subsequent drafts.

How to Finish Your Novel This Time: Three Keys

Those are a lot of potential sticking points! So if you’re going to finish a novel without it taking years and years, you need these three things in place:

#1: A Writing Routine

Sure, you might eventually finish your novel if you write when the whim strikes and when a spare hour miraculously appears in your day … but if that’s not been working for you so far, there’s probably no reason to assume it’s going to start working in the future!

I always find it interesting to read about other writers’ daily routines – Writing Magazine tends to feature a different writer’s routine each month – but often, their lives don’t bear a lot of resemblance to mine! Your routine needs to work for you: your commitments, your energy levels, your day job’s requirements, and your own creative process.

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When you sign up for the Roadblocks workshop, I’ll also send you a free one-page plan that lets you map out your writing for the next three months.

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#2: A Rough Structure for Your Novel

I know not all writers like planning – and I’m definitely more on the pantser/discovery writer end of the spectrum myself – but it really is tricky to finish a novel if you have no clue what’s going to happen next.

Having a rough, high-level story structure, with a few crucial plot points in mind, will make it so much easier to actually finish it.

I’ve developed a simple seven-point plan for this, letting you map out the biggest plot points without getting bogged down in coming up with lots of details that you might later adjust.

You don’t have to stick to your plan, especially if your writing process is one of discovering the story as you go. It’s there to give you direction – and you can change your mind at any time. (You can make as many copies of the worksheet as you like, if you want a few versions of your plan.) But having the plan in the first place makes it a lot easier to write towards the next plot point.

#3: A Plan to Get Past Likely Roadblocks

Often, it seems like we just can’t get on a good roll with novel writing: something always crops up and gets in the way.

But these roadblocks are – generally – far from unimaginable. They might be unpredictable, especially in terms of their exact timing, but they can probably be foreseen to some degree.

The things that were getting in the way of your writing a month ago will probably continue getting in the way of your writing next month. The stuff that came up when you tried writing your last novel will likely come up again this time around.

In the Roadblocks workshop, I go through the four most common roadblocks that I mentioned earlier – demands, distractions, disorientation, and doubt. We take some time to dig into these and to figure out ways to get around them.

Finishing a novel is a massive achievement … but it’s also one that’s well within your reach. An 80,000 word novel might sound enormous, but if you wrote an average of 220 words/day, you’d finish a full draft after a year. A small daily word count really does add up.

Keep writing, get help and support if you get stuck, and you will make it to The End.

We're coming up to the final three months of 2026.

How's this year been for your writing?

I hope it's been a great year, where you can look back and be really happy with your progress… but realistically, that's just not the case for a lot of us.

If things haven't gone how you hoped, I know how easy it is to start giving up at this point.

After all, a new year is only a few months away. And maybe that will be the year when you write your novel / publish your book / get tens of thousands of words down on the page.

2026 might feel – already – like a write-off.

But that's not the case.

You've still got three months of 2026.

And I'd love to help you make the most of them (without running yourself into the ground).

You're Invited to Join Writers' Cafe

You might have already heard about Writers' Cafe before: it's my online support and accountability group for writers that I first launched in May 2024.

Writers' Cafe isn't a course or class that you have to keep up with. It's a warm and welcoming community where you can drop in and use whatever's most helpful for you and your writing during any given week.

Everything inside Writers' Cafe is designed to help you go further, faster with your writing, while enjoying the journey. If you're working on a novel, everything we do is designed to get you to "The End". (And if you're writing short stories, poetry, song lyrics, fanfiction, memoir, or anything else, lots of what we're doing in the Cafe will apply to you too.)

Want to join us? Head on over to the Writers' Cafe page. Or keep reading to learn more (and see some sneak peeks inside the Cafe).

We have a lot going on, but here are some of the most popular bits of the Cafe for getting plenty of words down on the page:

Supportive Weekly Check-Ins

Every Monday. Post a reply to the check-in at any time.

Tell us how your writing's been going and what you have planned for the upcoming week. These are great for gentle accountability. I aim to reply to every check-in, and I tag you the following week to ask you how it went.

Here are some recent check-ins:

Live Writing Hours

Almost every day, across time zones.

These help you give writing a space on your calendar – and often feel like a window of time away from everything else going on in life. Plus, they're a great chance to get to know other members of Writers' Cafe in the 5 minutes at the start and end of the hour.

Momentum Writing Retreats

Monthly, alternating between Fridays & Saturdays.

Our monthly virtual writing retreats are designed to help you make massive progress with a project. We check in periodically throughout the day, usually writing for 1.5 hours at a time, and it's a lot of fun as well as a chance to really immerse yourself in your writing.

Our September retreat is tomorrow (18th) … so if you're quick, you could join us for that.

And More!

We also have:

• Weekly feedback & support hours, where you can get feedback on work-in-progress, or just come along to listen in and comment on other people's writing. This is also a great place to ask questions if you're stuck on anything.
• Monthly hands-on writing workshops, covering the craft of novel writing, as well as motivational and goal-setting support. All the workshops are based around exercises and discussion, not dry theory. (They're also recorded in case you can't make it live.)
• Any-time discussion forums and a text chatroom. If you've got a question, a resource to share, or just something writing-related you want to chat about, the Cafe is always open! I tend to pop in and out throughout the day, and you can always tag me in a post or message me through the Cafe's private message system to get in touch.

What Do the Next Three Months Hold for You?

Three months is enough to turn your 2026 around.

For $99 / £74, you get full Writers' Cafe access right up until the end of 31st December.

This is the cheapest time to join Writers' Cafe, as memberships always run until the end of the calendar year. We won't reopen again until late December, when 2027 membership opens up.

I know it can be tricky to be sure if a writing group or community is the best fit for you, so Writers' Cafe comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you join and decide it's not right for you, no problem: just let me know during your first 30 days and I'll refund you in full.

Ready to join us and have a great final three months of 2026?

Head over to the Writers' Cafe page and click the "Join Now" button for your preferred currency.

Got questions about Writers' Cafe (or writing in general)?

I'd love to help! Drop me an email at ali@aliventures.com.

This post was first published in June 2017 and last updated in September 2026.

Is it ever okay to repeat the same word or phrase in your writing?

Absolutely!

Unintentional repetition is something that authors are (quite rightly) warned to watch out for, particularly in fiction. It's one of the 20 common writing mistakes I go through in Editing Essentials.

Intentional repetition, however, is a powerful tool. Authors use it to make their points more memorable in non-fiction or to draw attention to something in fiction. Poets use repetition for effect, too. You can probably think of plenty of poems, or even children’s books, that do this.

I'll run through some examples of intentional repetition shortly, but first, let's look at how to deal with repetition that you don't intend.

Dealing with Unintentional Repetition

Like most authors, I have a tendency to fall back on the same words or phrases a little too frequently ... without really noticing. My editor, Lorna Fergusson from Fictionfire, is great at picking these up for me.

When you’re editing your own work, or reading a piece for another writer, look out for the same word being used too often within a short passage of text.

Here’s an example:

John stormed back into the room. “Back off!” he yelled.

Steven was taken aback; he’d thought the argument was over. He backed away.

The problem here is that the repetition and near-repetition of “back” isn’t creating a meaningful effect. Instead, it starts to jar; it feels almost comical.

Note too that the word “back” isn’t being used with quite the same sense each time: this can make it hard to spot repetition when you’re drafting.

Even in cases where a word is only repeated a couple of times, it can still stand out and distract the reader, drawing their attention out of the story itself.

Unintentional repetition is, thankfully, one of the easier writing issues to fix. Here’s a rewrite of the same passage:

 John stormed back into the room. “Just leave it!” he yelled.

Steven was taken by surprise; he’d thought the argument was over. He edged away.

On a larger scale, it can be tricky to see when the same words or phrases recur a bit too often, especially in your own work. A useful trick here is, when you think you have one, to run a find and replace in your manuscript to see how often it comes up (and potentially to highlight each occurrence).

So how do you get repetition right?

Consider Repetition on Different Levels of the Text

It’s easy to see repetition at work when a fair proportion of the overall text is repeated: in a children’s book, for instance.

If you know The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, you’ll probably remember some of the key repeated sections, like this, which comes up three times unaltered:

“A gruffalo? What's a gruffalo?”
“A gruffalo! Why, didn't you know?”

Or in We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, each part of the bear hunt begins like this:

We’re going on a bear hunt.

We’re going to catch a big one.

What a beautiful day!

We’re not scared.

The nursery rhyme Five Little Ducks repeats almost the whole of each verse, varying only the number of ducks, for most of the song:

Five little ducks went swimming one day
Over the hills and far away
Mummy duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"
But only [four/three/two/one] little duck(s) came back

This sort of repetition would clearly be too much for older children or adults, but you might be able to use repetition on a different scale in your work. That could be:

• (Large scale: in a series of books) All your novels start in a particular way, for instance – with a prologue, letter, phone call, murder or whatever works for you and your genre.
• (Medium scale: across one book) A recurring element (a motif) is used across multiple chapters; this might be a colour, sound, contrast (e.g. fire vs ice), or anything important to the story. 
• (Small scale: within a sentence or paragraph) Your story repeats the same meaningful word or phrase for emphasis, whether in the narrative or in dialogue.

Use the Rule of Three

Think of all the fairytales you know that involve three: The Three Little Pigs, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Goldilocks and the Three Bears ... the number three works very well when you’re repeating something.

Three allows you to establish a pattern, then break it for effect. In all of those stories, you have the set up of “normal” with the first two instances of something, then the surprise twist with the third.

Three feels complete. In The Gruffalo, there are three encounters between the mouse and the larger animals – a fox, an owl and a snake – and each of these proceeds in exactly the same way. (The surprise twist comes halfway through the book.)

Three is also memorable, which can be helpful if you're writing nonfiction. (Think “stop, drop, and roll” or “reduce, reuse, recycle”.)

Make the Repetition Meaningful

Simply being deliberate isn’t enough to make repetition work. The repetition should matter.

In a poem or children’s story, it might give structure to the piece – or build a sense of anticipation.

In non-fiction, repetition is generally used to help make key points stick in the reader’s mind.

In a novel, it might be used to help link two scenes, potentially to create a sense of contrast or even humour.

Repetition could also be significant for the plot. For instance, if you’re writing a novel where a particular phrase has been repeatedly associated with the antagonist, and that phrase comes up in a letter purporting to be from a different character, it could be a clue to the reader (and the protagonist) that something’s amiss.

In the next story you read, whether it’s a novel trilogy (there’s that rule of three again...), a short story, or a children’s book, watch out for repetition. How’s it being used? Is it effective? Think about how you might use repetition in your own work – in large and small ways – to add extra depth or make it more memorable.

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Want more help tweaking your prose? Get the checklist (a quick reference guide) from Editing Essentials completely free: just pop in your name and email address below.

 

If you’re writing a novel, you might have moments – or even months – where you’re tempted to give up. Perhaps something about the process makes you feel like you’re doing it all wrong, or you’re never going to finish, or you’re just not cut out to be a writer.

Whether you’re one chapter in or wading through the messy middle, there’ll be times when your confidence is at a low – and resistance is at a high.

Today, I wanted to share some really common situations (and emotions) that come up when writing a novel. These happen to me, they happen to the writers I work with as a coach, and they happen to writers in Writers’ Cafe. In short … they’re normal. They’re even to be expected.

So if any of these sounds familiar right now, then please know that you’re not doing anything wrong. You will make it to the end. And you absolutely are a writer.

These are all normal parts of writing a novel (I’ll list them here, then go through each one below):

#1: Getting Stuck on What Happens in the Story

#2: Having Scenes That Go Nowhere

#3: Needing a Break from Writing

#4: Losing Momentum After a Break

#5: Changing Your Mind About How to Tell the Story

#6: Feeling Uncertain About the Genre

#7: Pausing When Life Happens

#8: Discovering Even Better Ideas Along the Way

#9: Wanting Other People to “Get It”

#1: Getting Stuck on What Happens in the Story

I don’t think I’ve ever met a writer who sailed through from Page One to The End without at least some moments of “what on earth happens next?!” Even if you have your key plot points mapped out, there’s still a lot of story that needs to happen in between those.

When I get stuck, my instinct is often to just write anyway: to throw words down on the page, hoping they’ll coalesce into a scene. After a lot of half-baked, reworked drafts, I’ve realised that taking a step back is often more productive … even if it means missing a word count goal. 

#2: Having Scenes That Go Nowhere

Related to #1 … most novelists, at some point in the drafting process, end up writing scenes that don’t really go anywhere. Perhaps it’s a scene where characters sit around thinking, or do a bunch of chores, or have a nice chat over coffee – without any real purpose to it.

While these scenes can be very realistic (quite a lot of “scenes” in my life involve chores!), they may eventually need to be cut from the story, or given a greater point. And if that’s the case – don’t worry. It’s completely normal to have some passages like that in your draft.

#3: Needing a Break from Writing

During the long process of writing a novel, you’re going to need a break. You might feel burnt out, after tens of thousands of words, or you might feel fed up of your story, characters, or the writing life in general.

It’s absolutely fine to take a break from writing (and very normal to need one). Wanting some time away from your story doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer or that your story isn’t compelling enough. It just makes you human!

#4: Losing Momentum After a Break

Another common experience is coming back from a break, expecting to feel refreshed and enthused … only to feel a lot of resistance about starting back up again. Maybe before you had some time off (whether deliberate or unplanned), you were on a roll. Now, it seems like you’ve lost all that momentum.

Something I find helpful after a break is to pick a time for getting back into my writing: often, I do this during one of the Writers’ Cafe writing hours. Even if I feel a distinct lack of motivation, just having the time set aside (and the accountability to others) makes it a whole lot easier to get going again.

#5: Changing Your Mind About How to Tell the Story

Whether you plan your novel or just dive into Chapter One, you’ll be making decisions very early on about how to tell the story. First person or third person? Past or present tense? Who should be your narrators?

You might well change your mind on the telling of the story as you write it … and that’s a very normal part of the process. Maybe a story that started out in the past tense just doesn’t feel right after the first chapter, so you switch to present tense – or perhaps a story with multiple third-person POV characters suddenly comes into focus when you switch to having a single first-person narrator. Both those situations happened for me with novels I’ve been working on recently.

#6: Feeling Uncertain About the Genre

While some authors have a very clear genre in mind right from the start of their first draft, many don’t. Most of the authors I work with have a story idea first and foremost, and it can take quite a bit of writing to be sure what genre it best fits into.

It’s fine if you start writing without knowing exactly where your book would appear on the shelves. As you develop your story, it’ll become clearer. Maybe the novel you thought was a rom-com is more of a contemporary fantasy, or the historical novel you started becomes an alternative history. Give yourself space to explore your idea without worrying too much about the exact genre at the beginning.

#7: Pausing When Life Happens

During the writing of a novel, everyday life will carry on … and sometimes, things will happen that throw your writing completely off-course. This might be illness (yours or a loved one’s), an injury, a house move, a busy spell at work, a domestic disaster of some kind, or perhaps something lovely, like a new baby in the family.

I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to a writer who didn’t have some kind of pause during their novel – sometimes for weeks or months – due to life throwing up something unexpected. This kind of pause is almost inevitable, and when it happens, don’t feel bad about putting your novel on hold for a bit. 

#8: Discovering Even Better Ideas Along the Way

As you write your novel, however much you’ve planned or thought ahead, you’ll probably find yourself surprised. Maybe you’re five chapters in when you realise that your novel would work so much better if the antagonist was your main character’s brother, not a colleague. Or perhaps you’ve written two drafts before figuring out a way to force your romantic leads closer together right from the start.

It can be amazing when this happens – and also frustrating! You might feel like if only you’d planned more, or thought more deeply, you’d have had the idea sooner and not “wasted time” writing your story in a slightly different way. But I firmly believe that nothing you write is ever wasted. You may have needed to work through that material in order for the idea to come to you.

#9 Wanting Other People to “Get It”

This is such a very normal and understandable thing: to wish that the people around you would “get” wanting to write a novel. In my experience, even people who are kind and supportive will sometimes be a bit baffled by why you’d want to put 80,000-ish words down onto paper (then rework them multiple times).

One of the things I love about Writers’ Cafe is that the writers in there are surrounded by people who “get it” … people who can celebrate all their triumphs, sympathise with their struggles, and deeply understand the desire to write a novel.

What about you? Does one of these strike a chord … or are you going through something else which makes you wonder “is this normal?” Pop a comment below!

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A quick heads-up: Writers’ Cafewill be reopening for new members on Monday 14th September. To get in sooner (at no extra cost), drop me an email (ali@aliventures.com) and I’ll put you on the waiting list, who'll get early access. 🙂 

Summer’s here in the UK and I’ll be taking some time off from blogging.

I’ll still be sending the Aliventures newsletter on and off over the summer. To get that, plus my free "Make Time to Write" worksheet, just pop your name & email in here:

While I’m taking a break, here are eight posts from the first half of 2026 that you might want to catch up on – or re-read:

Idea to Novel: How Can You Start Developing a Strong Novel Idea?

What is Worldbuilding … and How Detailed Do You Need to Be?

Write Fast and Rewrite a Lot … or Take Your Time Drafting and Edit Lightly?

When Your Novel is Taking Way Longer Than You Expected

Character Flaws: Why They’re So Important to Your Story

What is a Scene vs a Chapter – and How Should You Structure Each?

Developmental Editing, Copy Editing and Proofreading: What’s the Difference?

What is a Plot Hole – and How Can You Fix it, Fast? (Six Examples & Solutions)

If you want more posts, check out the Aliventures archive.

At the start of January, I set out my writing goals for 2026, and wrote about how these were going at the end of Q1. We’re now halfway through the year … so here’s what’s been happening.

The 2026 goals I set in January (and slightly modified since!) are:

• Big Fiction Project: Finish My Rom Com Novel and Send Out to Agents
• Other Fiction Projects: Short Stories, Reaper, and a Writing Streak
• Non-Fiction: Aliventures Blog, Newsletter … and More

What have I tweaked since then? 

The novel I originally drafted as a romantic comedy is more of a contemporary romance (there are some lighthearted bits, but it’s not funny enough to fall into rom com). 

I’ve ditched the writing streak! It was a super easy one (write something every day), but I find that writing streaks aren’t really working for me at the redrafting/editing stages of projects.

Q2 Progress on Big Fiction Project

In June, I finished Draft 3 of the contemporary fantasy novel and started Draft 4. It was possibly a bigger reworking than Draft 1 → Draft 2: I mentioned in the last goals update that I realised the structure was off, and that “contemporary romance” was a better description for the genre.

I’m broadly happy with progress – I’d always like to be going faster, but we had a particularly busy June, so the last few weeks have been slow.

What Worked (And Why)

A lot of the things from last quarter continue to work well for me, including:

• Using the writing hours and momentum writing retreats in Writers’ Cafe – it’s really helpful to have this time set aside on my calendar, especially during busy seasons.
• Using Claude AI for some brainstorming – often I don’t like the ideas it comes up with, but this in itself is useful as it helps me clarify what I do want.

What Didn’t Work (And What I’m Trying Next)

While there weren’t any big disruptions this quarter, things are consistently busier than I’d like. (I suspect that’s the case for a lot of writers!) It was hard to make my writing as much of a priority as I wanted.

In Q3, I’m trying time blocking more of my day: not just having writing hours on my calendar, but thinking through my day as a whole. 

That includes time blocking for the work tasks I’m tackling (e.g. feedback to my coaching clients, writing blog posts, getting to grips with Instagram) and also making sure I’ve thought through when my writing is fitting in during the day.

Q3 is always a challenging quarter in terms of work and writing as my kids are off school for late July through till early September, and we’re taking various trips … so I also want to be realistic about what I can do when!

Q2 Progress on Other Fiction Projects

The other fiction projects I planned to tackle this year were:

Self-Publishing Reaper

I finally made progress on this one! I’ve finished the proofread/format (and made a few tiny edits), and I’ve been working on a short synopsis to send to my cover designer, plus a blurb to use on Amazon. Still some way to go, and I want to do some thinking about launching and marketing, but I’m hoping I’ll be ready to launch it early in Q4.

Writing Four Short Stories

I’m ditching this goal! If inspiration strikes in Q4, maybe I’ll write a short story or two … but for now, it’s off the list.

Maintaining a (Very Easy) Writing Streak

I’d planned to spend at least 5 minutes a day doing something relating to my fiction in Q2. I did manage this most days (and most of the time, it was 15–60 minutes) … but I didn’t track it in a spreadsheet, just in my planner.

What Worked (And Why?)

With Reaper, I guess I finally got fed up of having this project still hanging around. I’m keen to have it finished!

What Didn’t Work (And What I’m Trying Next)

Having a daily writing goal can feel pressured – and frustrating when I inevitably miss a day! So instead, I’m just tracking whether or not I’ve worked on fiction each day.

The short stories goal sounded good at the start of the year, but it’s just not where my energy and focus is. I’m letting it go!

Q2 Progress on Non-Fiction

As in Q1, most weeks, I managed to publish (or update & republish) a blog post and send out a newsletter.

I’m continuing to do short-form non-fiction on Instagram and LinkedIn, and I’ve even started making some short videos. Do come and follow me on those platforms, if you like.

What Worked (and Why)?

Previously, I’ve had a plan for what I’m writing each week on the Aliventures blog and in the newsletter. This quarter, I went with the flow much more – writing about what was most on my mind, or what linked in well with other resources I was creating, like the free workshops.

What Didn’t Work (And What I’m Trying Next)

I mentioned above about time blocking my workday: it’s easy for me to skip things like my blog posts on busy weeks, and I’ve not been posting as consistently on social media as I want. I’m hoping the time blocking will be helpful with this – if nothing else, I’ve realised I quite often plan more tasks into my workday than actually fit into the limited hours I have available!

How did your first half of 2026 go? If you’re not making the progress you want, come along to my free workshop on Tuesday 14th July: 

Four Roadblocks Holding You Back from Writing Your Novel.

(If you’ve already missed it by the time you read this post, drop me an email at ali@aliventures.com and I’ll send you the recording.)

In the workshop, we’ll be tackling the most common roadblocks that hold writers back – both in life and in writing. Spending an hour at the workshop could get you to the finish line of your novel months faster. 

 Are you writing in scenes or in chapters?

That might sound like a weird question. Maybe you feel like it doesn’t matter, or that they’re basically the same thing, or that it doesn’t matter either way.

But whether you think in scenes or chapters can make a big difference to how well your story works.

Let’s start with a couple of definitions.

What is a Scene?

A scene is a unit of story. Normally, it includes at least one character, taking action, an element of conflict, and some kind of change (however small) by the end of the scene. (You can read a bunch of other definitions of scenes here.) It’s a continuous passage of time and generally takes place in one location.

What is a Chapter?

A chapter is a way of dividing up a book. It might be a full scene, a partial scene, or several scenes. It may well end halfway through a scene, perhaps on a cliffhanger. It could cover a few minutes or many years; it could take place in one location or many.

Many writers – including me! – have been taught to think in chapters, because chapters are a convenient marker for writers as well as readers. We discuss “the next chapter” or “finishing a chapter” of our book. We might write a “chapter by chapter” outline.

But for the sake of a strong story, it’s more helpful to work in scenes, at every stage of the writing process.

How Scenes vs Chapters Work at Different Stages of the Writing Process

Whether you’re just starting a novel or you’re on draft five, it’s worth thinking about how you approach it in terms of both scenes and chapters.

#1: The Idea Stage

When you’re coming up with and developing an idea, you might already have some ideas for key events (scenes!) within your story.

Depending on your genre and the type of book you’re writing, it can also be helpful to think about how you want to use chapters.

For instance, if you’re using two first-person narrators, then you’ll almost certainly want to only switch at the end of a chapter. (You might decide to alternate chapters between the two viewpoint characters.)

This may have implications for how you put together the story – e.g. if the characters aren’t in the same place for the whole story, you want them both to have something interesting going on! – so it’s useful to consider it right from the start.

You’ll also want to think this through if you’re writing a story that switches between the past and the present (B.A. Paris’s Behind Closed Doors is a good example).

If you’re using third-person narrators, or just one first-person narrator, and your story mainly takes place in the “present” of the narrative … then you’re unlikely to have much to decide on here.

#2: The Outlining Stage

Depending on how much outlining you like to do, you might want to plan out specific scenes here.

Even if you’re a “pantser” or discovery writer, you might well have key scenes in mind for your story … and in some genres, specific scenes are pretty much a given. (Think the “meet cute” and the “grand gesture” in a romance novel, for instance.)

It’s fine to create a chapter-by-chapter outline if you want to, but make sure you’re also thinking in terms of specific scenes. 

A chapter where “Jane finds out about Tom’s secret bank account” will be more interesting if the bulk of this happens in a single, emotionally-charged scene … not in a step by step account of actions that Jane takes across the course of a whole day.

If you’re a bit stuck on where to start with outlining, take a look at my guide to three act story structure and the seven key plot points your novel needs – it takes you through a process for creating a big-picture overview of your story.

If you enjoy digging into the details and having much more of a map for your story, Savannah Gilbo strongly recommends scene-by-scene planning: she explains “I love breaking down my story this way before I start writing a single word. I like knowing roughly how many scenes I have to work with both in total and in each act – that way it’s super clear to me if my story is going off track at any point.”

#3: The Drafting Stage

Writing an initial rough draft is often a process of telling yourself the story, especially if you’re a pantser. It’s fine (and very normal) for your first draft to have some meandering bits, scenes that don’t fit, snippets and summaries that aren’t even scenes, and so on.

If you want a cleaner first draft (or if you’re getting bogged down), then thinking in scenes can be really helpful. Otherwise, it’s very easy to ask yourself “what should go in my next chapter?” and end up with a sequence of events that kill your pacing.

April Davila calls this “connective tissue writing”, defining that as “those in-between paragraphs where your character ties her shoes, walks down the hall, drinks her coffee, and arrives at the next meaningful moment.”

Even if what’s happening is meaningful, it can still get a bit lost if you’re dragging it out over multiple little bitty scenes … so if you’re stuck on what to write next, ask yourself how you could create an interesting scene that moves the story forward, with characters in a single location, at a single time.

#4: Rewriting Stage

Most of the writers I work with as a novel coach have finished a full rough draft and are now facing the (quite daunting!) task of shaping that material into a strong, coherent story.

This is where it makes a ton of sense to focus on scenes. 

If you just look at each chapter, it can be hard to spot places where your story’s meandering a bit: where nothing really happens in a scene, or where you’ve not got scenes so much as little snippets of a few lines of dialogue here, then a lot of summarised action, then another few lines of dialogue, and so on.

As you rewrite, you might want to construct a scene-by-scene map of your story. That way, you have an overview of the whole thing (that doesn’t require reading 70,000+ words repeatedly).

Some people put each scene on a row of a spreadsheet, others use virtual cards (Scrivener is good for this), and others use physical cards or post-it notes to map out the whole story, one scene at a time.

As you do this, you might spot scenes that could be cut or merged, scenes that need heavy rewriting, or missing scenes where you’ve skipped or skimmed over something that’s important to your plot, and scenes that essentially repeat themselves.

#5: Editing Stage

When you come to edit on a detailed level, your focus is going to be sentence by sentence, not scene by scene … but it’s still helpful to have both scenes and chapters in mind.

At this stage of editing, you want to make sure chapters start and end strong – and that scenes do as well. (That could mean, for instance, ending a chapter partway through a scene so that you have a cliffhanger to keep the reader turning the pages.)

Hopefully, you’ll have settled on all your scenes at this stage, and you won’t be adding substantial new material – but it’s still helpful to look at things like whether each scene has a clear setting, whether the scene would be stronger if you cut the first few lines, and so on.

How to Structure Your Scenes vs Chapters

Structuring Scenes

Scenes are a unit of story. In fact, you might even think of a scene as a mini story, with a beginning, middle, and end giving it its structure. 

Your character will have some kind of goal in the scene – however small – and this should be either achieved or thwarted by the end of the scene.

Sometimes, you’ll stop one scene and immediately start the next, leaving the reader to pick up on any change in time and location.

But it’s also fine to include a transition – just keep it fairly short. For instance, you might finish a scene, then start the next one with something like:

The next day…

Hours had gone past by the time that…

When they finally reached London…

This helps make it clear to the reader that time has passed.

What you don’t want is to write a meandering kind of scene that drifts through events … e.g. your character wakes up and finds a package on their doorstep, ponders about it, gets on the bus, pops into Starbucks, arrives at work, greets coworkers, then starts their workday by opening their emails.

Sure, this is realistic … but we don’t want blow-by-blow realism in a novel! We just want to see the things that actually matter. For instance, the important scenes here are:

1. Your character finding an unexpected package on their doorstep, before they’ve even had their morning coffee.

2. Your character opening their work emails to discover a strange email.

The rest can be summarised briefly between scene 1 and scene 2:

While Felicity gulped down her triple shot latte and waited for her ancient computer to finally load her emails, she couldn’t shake a sense of unease. Why would someone leave a book on her doorstep? And why that book, one she’d tried not to think about since college?

Structuring Chapters

Chapters can be structured in all kinds of ways. To some extent, this will depend on genre – but you can also establish conventions early on in your own book.

Perhaps:

• You frequently end a chapter mid-scene, perhaps on a minor (or major!) cliffhanger.
• You have very short chapters … or very long chapters.
• All your chapters have names, potentially following the same naming convention each time.
• You only switch POV between chapters.
• You have a POV that only comes in as an intermission or interlude between normal chapters. (E.g. a villain speaking directly to “you”, the detective or protagonist, in a thriller/crime novel.)
• You alternate the viewpoint, chapter by chapter.

There are no rules at all on how you should do chapters. What matters is what works for your story (and what fits at least roughly with genre expectations).

The chapters are for the convenience – and enjoyment! – of your reader. Some writers call them “arbitrary divisions”, but they should be carefully chosen to make your reader’s experience of your book easier, more enjoyable, or both.

Thinking about your story in terms of scenes, not chapters, can help you dramatically improve the structure and the pacing. Whether you’re just starting a first draft or reworking your rough draft into something much more polished, getting your head around scenes (not just chapters) is key.

Free Roadmap Calls Available

If you’d like some help with reworking your novel, request a free Roadmap call with me.

We can talk about where you’re currently at with your story, explore anything that’s getting in your way, and come up with a plan for you to move forward. I’ll be happy to also take you through ways to work with me … but there’s absolutely no obligation to book coaching or buy anything from me as a result of the Roadmap call.