I often find that my scenes are very boring and they don’t move the plot forward, so what are the “essentials” for writing a scene?
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I think you kind of answered your own question in a way, if it doesn’t advance your story in some way, or enhance it, it doesn’t need to be there! We don’t need to know what the MC had for breakfast, unless it comes into play in the story later!
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As long as there isn’t any filler scenes that doesn’t add up to the storyline then you’re good to go! Such as the MC’s daily routine, house tours and etc…
But what about pacing? If every scene is meant to move the plot forward how do I make sure it’s not too fast-paced?
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Do you have a rough idea of how many episodes you want your story to be? Keeping in mind that you sort of need to keep track on your story’s timeline, for example LI and MC’s first kiss on the 2nd episode seems too rushy but if say two weeks pass between episode one and two then it would make sense.
I started developing a plot this week so I haven’t gotten that far that I know all bullet points, but I think I would like it to be around 30-35 episodes, but it really depends on how well I manage to develop the plot.
Every scene should advance the plot, but how much it advances the plot by is the thing that can mess up pacing. Some people put too much stuff in one scene and it feels rushed.
Also, having sub-plots that feed into the main story helps to keep scenes interesting while not revealing too much about the main plot!
The best way to improve your story is by drawing out a plan of what you want to happen in the story and choosing what chapters you want it to happen in!
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How do you make sure the subplots are interesting?
It’s all about planning!
I suggest sitting down and taking a day to really think about the plot of your story, what other characters are going to be doing and how that affects the main plot.
What characters do you think people will like? How can you develop those and give those people their own mini-plot? Then draw it all in like a timeline type thing and choose which chapters cover what parts in the timeline.
One of my close friends made me do this for my own story: put all the most important events on sticky/post it notes. Then command a wall in your house. Sort them into a timeline. Then write which chapter each will fall into 
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I have another question, sorry if I’m being annoying😂 In my story, the main character’s been depressed for the last year because his girlfriend died (and it was kind of his fault, she died in a car accident and he was driving the car.) so when the story begins, it’s her memorial day.
His internal goal is to move on from her, but I don’t know what the external goal should be.
The dead girlfriend’s sister is supposed to be the love interest for this story, but I kind of don’t know how to intertwine them?
I suck at explaining.
You’re not being annoying at all! Can you tell me the overall plot so that we can work put an external goal?
Okay, I’ve thought about it for a while now and I’ve made some changes. I’m not sure about whose POV I’m going to use, but if I choose this version it’ll be the girl who is the main character.
So they were close friends for a while, then out of the blue he started dating her sister, which she was kinda hurt by because she had a crush on him at the time.
Flash forward to when the story starts, she goes to her sisters memorial, he’s there. Mind you, he’s been gone for a year, and she’s a bit conflicted about how to feel.
He leaves when they lock eyes, and she ends up running out after him. Somehow invites him to come to the support group.
And I guess they’ll be forced to get to have some kind of relationship when the MC has to move in with him because her parents are going to be out of town.
i am interested in your topic. It’s also the matter that i have. Thanks for ever things u shared.
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Oh? Did you want to know anything? Feel free to ask 
writing scenes that aren’t as intense - such as going out to shop or talking to your friends in your cafe - can still be used in your story to indicate the character’s personalites, interests and likes/dislikes. are they funny? make them crack jokes. are they serious? don’t laugh at most of the jokes a character says. are they quiet? don’t let them speak much. it’s like a break between more intense scenes where the readers can relax and get to know the characters more
if this makes sense. idk if this is good advice oop
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