What Is a Scene?

Early in my career as a Hollywood story analyst, I learned an important lesson about the true nature of a scene in a movie or novel. More than a short segment of action, conflict, or exposition, a scene is usually a transaction, a transfer of power. In other words, a scene is a deal, like a business deal.

In this video, based on a chapter called What's the Big Deal? in my book, The Writer's Journey 25th Anniversary Edition, I explore the idea of the scene as a deal and suggest that every story is also a deal, a vital contract between the writer and the audience.