Why Scene Structure Drives Momentum

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That scene structure is what gives the chapter direction. It's what gives it forward momentum. Again, even though much of the action is simply just two sisters walking through New York and talking and laughing. Yes, there's a lot of banter and backstory and humor and interiority and all kinds of stuff in the chapter, but underneath that is a really clear progression of goal, conflict, choice, and consequence, right? We have a clear point of view character, we have a clear antagonist, and there's a clear goal, conflict, choice, and consequence. Welcome to the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast. My name is Savannah Gilbo, and I'm here to help you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be overwhelming. So each week I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable, and step-by-step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away. So whether you're brand new to writing or more of a seasoned author looking to improve your craft, this podcast is for you. So pick up a pen and let's get started. In today's episode, I'm going to walk you through a breakdown of the first chapter of Emily Henry's Book Lovers so you can see how and why it works. First, I'm going to share a quick summary of the chapter just in case you've never read the book or in case it's been a while since you've read it. And then we're going to take a look at how many scenes exist within that opening chapter, what the structure of each scene looks like. And then lastly, we'll zoom out and discuss what the chapter is doing specifically because it's the opening chapter of the story. Because those are really two related

What Book Lovers Sets Up

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but different things, right? Writing well-structured scenes matters throughout the entire novel. But the opening chapter also has some additional work to do to pull readers into the story and make them want to keep reading. So that is what we're going to do in this episode. And even if you're not writing romance, I don't want you to skip this episode because the genre isn't really the point. We are using book lovers today as a case study so you can see the craft principles that I teach on this podcast at work. And hopefully, my intention is that you get better at spotting these kind of craft principles and better at applying them in your own writing as well. Alright, so real quick, Book Lovers is a contemporary romance about literary agent Nora Stevens, who agrees to take a trip with her younger sister Libby to the small town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. And while she's there, Nora keeps running into book editor Charlie Lastra. And as you might expect in a romance, the two eventually fall in love. So that is the book at a very, very high level. You can go read the backcover copy on Amazon if you want a little more detail before we dive in. Now, this story does open with a prologue that does some really important work before we get into chapter one. The prologue introduces Charlie and Nora's history with Charlie. It introduces Sunshine Falls as one of our key locations, and it introduces Nora's beliefs about love, and especially the kind of small-town love story that she absolutely does not see herself living at all. Alright, so although we are not going to break down the prologue in detail today, we will come back to it later when we talk about why the opening works as a whole. But that being said, if you are writing a romance and considering a prologue, this might be a great example to study because it does some really important work in terms of setting up the overarching story. Alright, so let's kick things off with a summary of the first chapter, and then we'll dive into the mechanics of how and why it works.

Chapter One Summary And Scene Count

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So in this first chapter, our protagonist Nora and her younger sister Libby, who is pregnant with her third child, they spend the day together in New York City. And Nora feels as though that something has changed between her and her sister lately, but she's not really sure what or why something changed. They used to be incredibly close, but their lives have seemingly pulled them in different directions, especially as of late. Now, as they walk through the city, the two sisters joke about Nora's dating life, they talk about work and motherhood, and they fall into the familiar banter that shows how well they know each other and how close they truly are or used to be. But Nora keeps noticing little things that suggest that her sister Libby isn't quite herself or the best version of herself. And throughout the course of the chapter, she actually wonders whether her own demanding career is partially responsible for the distance between them, or whether Libby is just simply exhausted by motherhood and everything else going on in her life. So she's not really sure, but the longer they spend together, the more that Nora realizes that Libby might genuinely not be okay. So Nora offers reassurance, she offers Libby financial help, and even suggests a spa day. But Libby declines at all and eventually reveals what she really wants, and that is for the two of them to get away together before her new baby arrives. Nora agrees to go on this trip despite some hesitation and then discovers that Libby has already purchased the plane tickets to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. Alright, so that is what happens in a nutshell. And in this case, there is actually only one scene in the first chapter of Book Lovers. So everything I just described about Nora and Libby walking through New York City, that is one scene within this opening chapter. Now I won't go super deep into the difference between scenes and chapters because I have a whole episode on that topic, and I talk about the difference as well as why I highly recommend you write and edit your draft in scenes, not chapters. That is episode number six, and I will link to it in the show notes. I also have an episode that goes much deeper into how to write a well-structured scene. So that is episode number 235, and I will link to that one in the show notes as well, just in case you do want to go deeper into scene structure after this

The Five Elements Of A Scene

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episode. But for our purposes today, there are five things we're going to look for as we break down this chapter. So we want to know who the point of view character is and what they want. We want to know who the scene antagonist is and what that person wants. We want to identify how the central conflict escalates to a turning point, as well as what tough decision the point of view character has to make. And lastly, what consequences come from that decision that moved the story forward. So those are the ingredients we need to write a well-structured scene. And I'm going to show you what that looks like in this opening chapter. And then once we've done that, we'll zoom back out and talk about why this works specifically as an opening chapter. Because again, being the first chapter, it has a few additional jobs to do other than just the scene structure that we're going to talk about in a second. All right, so let's go ahead and dive in, starting with the first question, which is who is the point of view character in this scene and what do they want in this scene?

Nora’s Goal And Libby’s Opposition

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And our point of view character here is Nora. She is our point of view character, and her goal is to reconnect with her sister Libby and figure out why things feel off between them. So why Libby seems different, what's wrong with Libby, and how Nora can help. And Nora just really wants their relationship to feel like it used to. So that is her goal. And notice that this goal isn't highly external, but it is still clear. And what I mean by that is that Nora keeps watching Libby. She keeps comparing how Libby seems now compared to how she used to be. And she keeps looking for clues about what might have changed with Libby or what might have changed between them. And what I really like about this example is that Emily Henry never needs Nora to think, hmm, I need to figure out what's wrong with my sister, right? Instead, we understand Nora's goal because her thoughts, her observations, and her actions are consistently highlighting it and pointing our attention toward it as well. So this opening chapter, this scene, is a really great example of how a quieter, more relational scene goal can still be really clear and anchor the reader into the scene. All right, so that is the answer to the first question, which again is who is the point of view character and what is their goal in this scene? Now the second question we want to answer is who is the scene antagonist and what is their goal in this scene? And the answer to this one might surprise you because Libby, Nora's sister, is the scene antagonist. So her goal is to convince Nora to take a trip with her to Sunshine Falls specifically. So not just any trip, a trip to Sunshine Falls. And she wants this for a reason that will be revealed later. But on a first read, if we've never read this book before, it just seems like Libby wants the trip simply because she wants to spend time with her sister and reconnect before the baby comes. Alright, so that's her goal. And notice that Libby isn't bad or doing anything wrong, right? She's just the scene antagonist because although both sisters want to reconnect, they just happen to have different ideas about what that's going to require. So Nora, for example, wants to help Libby through the kinds of support that come naturally to her. She wants to give her money, she gives her reassurance, she offers practical solutions and things like that. But Libby wants Nora's time and attention, and she specifically wants it in Sunshine Falls, which will require Nora to step away from work and the carefully controlled life that she has built in New York. All right, so this is a great example of how a scene antagonist doesn't have to be a villain or even hostile towards the point of view character. They just need to want something that creates opposition and forces the point of view character to respond, to change course, or to make a difficult choice. All right, so that is question number two. Who is the scene antagonist and what is their goal in this scene? Now, question number three is what does the escalating conflict look

Turning Point Choice Stakes Consequences

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like? And then what is the peak moment of that conflict or the turning point of the scene? And as we go through this one, I just want you to think back to Nora's goal. So we said Nora's goal is to spend time with her sister and kind of just figure out why they're not as close as they used to be and if there's anything that she can do to bring them closer together. Now, like we just talked about, Nora tries to help Libby in all the ways that she's comfortable with, right? She offers reassurance, she offers money, suggests a spa day and things like that. But Libby keeps moving past those solutions because they aren't what she really wants. So this is how the conflict starts to escalate, right? Now, eventually, Libby just straight up asks Nora to take a trip with her and makes it clear that she really needs this time together before the baby comes. And this is the turning point of the scene. And it's the turning point because at this point, Nora isn't just trying to figure out what's wrong with Libby or how she can help. She finally has something concrete she can do to make things better. And I think this is a really great example of how the conflict in a scene can escalate on two different levels simultaneously. So practically and externally, Nora's usual ways of helping Libby fail to solve the problem. And then emotionally or internally, Nora becomes increasingly worried about Libby and feels more and more responsible for making things right. But by the time that Libby makes her actual request of taking a sister trip to Sunshine Falls, that vague sense that something is wrong has turned into something real and concrete that Nora has to respond to. Okay, so that is what the escalating conflict looks like, and it builds up to a turning point, which is when Libby finally asks Nora to take the trip to Sunshine Falls. So the next question is what tough choice does the point of view character face and what's at stake with that choice? So at this point in the scene, Nora has to decide. Does she say no to the trip and protect the carefully controlled and predictable life that she's built in New York? Or does she agree to the trip and give Libby what she's asking for so that they can reconnect? Right? That's the tough choice she faces, and both options come with a cost or something at stake. So if Nora says yes, she's going to have to step away from work and the routines that make her feel in control. But saying no carries an even deeper emotional cost. And we actually know from an earlier part of the chapter that Nora has never really been able to say no to Libby, and that much of what she does is driven by the desire to keep the two of them from ever returning to the dark place they were in after their mother died. So when Libby tells Nora that she needs this, refusing doesn't feel like saying no to just any vacation with her sister, right? It feels kind of like failing to take care of her sister in a much bigger way. And so ultimately, Nora chooses Libby over her own discomfort and agrees to go on the trip. Now, I love this as an example of how the stakes in a scene don't have to be objectively huge to feel significant. Because if this were simply a question of whether Nora felt like taking a vacation, then we probably wouldn't care very much about her answer, right? But Emily Henry has spent the whole scene showing us how worried Nora is about the growing distance between her and her sister, and also why Nora feels so responsible for keeping Libby happy. So again, the stakes aren't objectively huge, but they are very personal and significant to Nora, who is our point of view character. Okay, so that is the tough choice that Nora faces, and what's at stake if she chooses one option over the other option. Now, question number five is what consequences does the choice have that creates forward momentum into the next scene? And this question is really just about creating that sense of narrative drive from one scene to the next. So once Nora agrees to this trip with her sister, Libby just lights up. She throws her arms around Nora, she's laughing, she's telling her how much fun they're going to have and things like that. And this gives Nora an immediate payoff for her decision. What I mean by that is that agreeing to this trip and seeing Libby light up and all that, it brings the sisters closer, which is what Nora wanted from the beginning of the scene, right? So there's an immediate payoff for that tough choice and the decision she made. But then Libby reveals that she's already bought the plane tickets and they're going to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, a place that happens to have significance for Nora, which was established in the prologue. So this place already has significance for Nora, and it's also where the majority of the story will take place. So the bigger consequences of Nora's decision are now concrete, right? The trip isn't something that they just might plan or might do later. It's happening and there are already plane tickets bought. And I think this is a really great example of how the consequences of a character's choice can resolve something in the current scene while also creating forward momentum. So here again, we see that Nora's choice helps her reconnect with Libby and cheer Libby up momentarily, but it also commits her to leaving New York and traveling to Sunshine Falls, which launches the next part of the story. And if you know the book, you know that that's exactly where we're headed in the very next chapter. All right, so that is question five, which is all about the consequences that the character's choice have now created, and how that also helps to move them forward into the next scene or chapter. And so hopefully, as you can see from this breakdown, chapter one is built around a really well-structured scene. Yes, there's a lot of banter and backstory and humor and interiority and all kinds of stuff in the chapter, but underneath that is a really clear progression of goal, conflict, choice, and consequence, right? We have a clear point of view character, we have a clear antagonist, and there's a clear goal, conflict, choice, and consequence. And in this case, that scene structure is what gives the chapter direction, it's what gives it forward momentum. Again, even though much of the action is simply just two sisters walking through New York and talking and laughing. Now, there is also a surprising amount of emotional movement inside of what is, again, on the surface, just a simple conversation, right? If you read the chapter, you'll see that Nora and Libby move from the teasing and the banter that, you know, naturally comes between sisters or really good friends. It moves from that to concern, to vulnerability, to relief, and then back to humor and that banter. And through things like Nora's interiority, so her thoughts and her feelings on the page, and everything we learn about the sister's history, that all helps those shifts in

Why The Opening Chapter Hooks

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voice and tone land without slowing the scene down. All right, so this is also a really good example to study if you want to balance, you know, darker or heavier topics with lightness and with humor. And really just Emily Henry in general, she does a great job with this, but this scene in particular is a really great example of that. Now, beyond that, this opening chapter does exactly what a good opening chapter should do. So we all know an opening chapter needs to introduce the character. So here we get to know Nora and we get a sense of the life that she's living before we see the larger story that the prologue has kind of already hinted at and set up. We see how deeply Nora is rooted in New York, how important her career is to her, how much of her identity is wrapped up in taking care of Libby, and also why agreeing to this trip is such a departure from the carefully controlled life that she's built. Right? So we get a really good introduction to Nora, both within this opening chapter and a little bit in the prologue as well. And just as importantly as that, the opening also gives readers something to anticipate. So again, going back to that sense of forward momentum, because by the end of chapter one, we know that Nora has agreed to leave New York and she's agreed to travel to Sunshine Falls, a place that she kind of doesn't really want to go. And we have this big sense that her normal life is about to change. And this is one of the reasons I think the prologue and chapter one work especially well together in this book, because the prologue has already introduced Charlie, who's going to become the love interest. It's introduced Sunshine Falls and Nora's history with this place, and it's introduced Nora's beliefs about small town love stories and love and relationships in general. So the prologue does that, and then chapter one gives Nora a reason to actually go there and interact with Charlie and have her own little small-town love story. So, as readers, we are headed into that trip with Nora and Libby with questions already in our minds about what Nora's going to find there, who she's going to meet, and how it might challenge the way that she sees herself and her life and her relationship with her sister and love. And that's what I really love about this example, because an opening chapter still needs the same strong scene-level mechanics as any other part of the story, but it also needs to pull us into the larger story and give us reasons to keep reading. And I think Emily Henry did an excellent job of that in this opening chapter.

Recap Plus Free Guide And Reviews

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Now, real quick before I recap the key points from this episode, if you want to apply what you learned to your own scenes and look at your own scenes this way or just kind of learn more about writing scenes, then I highly suggest grabbing a copy of my free guide that's called How to Write Scenes That Work. And inside you'll get a breakdown of the five key elements that we talked about in today's episode, as well as an annotated example from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and a worksheet that you can use to plan or revise your own scenes. So I'm going to put the link to that in the show notes. Again, if you want to go deeper into how to write scenes that work, go grab that free guide. The link will be in the show notes. All right, so let's recap the three key points from this episode. Number one, I think this is a great example of a more quiet scene that still engages readers and works as an opening should work. We talked a lot about how this opening chapter is really just following two sisters who are walking and talking through New York City, but it definitely hooks our interest. And of course, Emily Henry's voice just makes it so much fun to read. The second key thing we talked about is that a large part of why this chapter works is because of the scene structure underneath the chapter. So remember that's a point of view character who wants something, a scene antagonist that gets in the way, escalating conflict that peaks at a turning point, a tough decision with stakes, and the result of that decision which creates that sense of forward momentum. And then the third key point is that combined with the prologue, this opening does exactly what it should do. So it introduces us to Nora, who she is, what her life is like, what she wants, what's important to her, you know, things like that. It's engaging, it hooks the reader's interest, and it pulls us into the rest of the story. All right, so overall, such a great example of how to write an opening scene that works, as well as how to write a well-structured scene. Now, if you liked this new way of studying scenes and opening chapters, please let me know by leaving a comment on Spotify or a review on Apple Podcasts, because that is the best way to let me know that you liked a particular topic like this or an episode like this, so that I can do more of them. All right, so either way, make sure to leave a comment or a review to let me know what you think because I really do love hearing from you. And I do miss doing these first chapter deep dives. So if that is something that you would like to see more of, I am more than happy to oblige. All right, so that is all I have for you in this episode. As always, thank you so much for tuning in and thank you for all of your support. I hope your writing is going well, and I will talk to you next week.