How to Start and End a Scene to Keep Readers Hooked

Working out where to start and end a scene isn’t always easy. It’s the kind of thing that’s much easier to handle in revisions – but whether you’re working through edits, or trying to get them right on the first try, there are some tips you can make use of to get the starts and ends of your scenes as tight as possible.

The start of every scene is an opportunity to hook your reader. The end of every scene is a chance to get them excited for the next one. But how? That’s what we’re going to look at today!

Keep transitions to a minimum as you start and end a scene

When you’re writing, particularly a first draft, it can be tempting to explain exactly how your characters get into and out of every situation. I always find that when I’m writing early drafts of a story, I end up adding a whole lot of unnecessary detail to explain how my characters are getting around. I wouldn’t call it wasted effort – it can be a useful exercise for understanding character movements. But it doesn’t make for compelling beginnings and endings for scenes.

Sometimes, of course, transitions do justify themselves. They can provide useful information about the world your characters are in, or let you provide insight into the attitudes of your characters. Does your protagonist travel by car? Bus? Horse and cart? Hoverboard? Are they always late, or neurotically early? Do they use their commute to study? To call a friend? To meditate? Information like this can make your transitions worth keeping.

However, if the sole purpose of the transition is to explain how your characters ended up in the scene, I’d recommend reconsidering it.

Understand the point of each scene

Every scene in your book should be there for a reason – or several reasons. Character development, plot advancement, presenting key information to the readers, maybe all of the above! Getting clarity on that front can help you to work out the best place to start and end a scene you’re working on.

A scene introducing a new character will need different set-up to a scene where the main purpose is action. If you’re introducing a new character, you’ll probably want to make sure there’s sufficient context for readers to be able to anchor the character into the existing story. For an action scene, you might want to drop readers immediately into the chaos with as little preamble as possible to really amp up the drama.

Start as late and end as early as you possibly can

If there’s just one tip you bear in mind as you’re writing scenes, I think this is the one. When you look at a scene you’re working on, you want to make sure you’re entering at the last moment that still makes sense. And you want to exit the scene at the earliest reasonable moment after it’s got to the point.

That doesn’t mean you’re aiming for a string of disconnected plot points with no transitions and no pauses for description. You need description, sometimes! Transitions and connective moments can be important and necessary! They’re also often not. Learning how to critically examine the beginning and end of a scene to determine whether they can be working harder for the story, or whether they need to go entirely, is an important skill.

It’s easier to figure out how to start and end a scene once you’ve got a draft

I recently cut 17,000 words from my manuscript. Those cuts came from all sorts of places (and I’ll be writing about how to edit down wordcount soon I think!) but one of the easiest wins was in cuts from the beginnings and ends of scenes.

Once you’ve finished a scene, and you know exactly what you’re communicating through it, it becomes a lot easier to figure out what’s necessary and what isn’t. So, if you’re struggling with the beginnings and ends of scenes, I recommend writing as much as you need to have it make sense to you, then walk away from the work and revisit it in a few days. Nine times out of ten you’ll be able to see much more clearly where the important information is, and what can be deleted!

I’m going to finish with probably my most nit-picky piece of advice around the starts and ends of scenes. This may not be the most important rule objectively, but it’s something I’m all too aware of when I’m editing:

Don’t use waking up or falling asleep to open or close out a scene

It’s such an easy strategy to default to. Starting the scene when your character opens their eyes, or finishing it when they drift off to sleep. But remember what you’re trying to achieve with each scene. Hook the reader in at the start, leave them wanting more at the end.

You want to start your scene with something happening, so unless your character is waking up tied to a tree by bandits it’s probably not the most interesting place to kick off! And while you don’t want to end every scene with a dramatic cliffhanger, there’s a world of difference between ending a scene with the sense that your character is planning to do something (anything!) in the near future, and ending it with a fade to unconsciousness.

Obviously, as in all writing advice, this isn’t a hard and fast rule. Sometimes waking up or falling asleep will work fine because the circumstances your characters are in make that the most interesting or reasonable way to delineate a scene. But I challenge you to take every instance of this strategy in your manuscript and really think, is this the most compelling way to begin or end this scene?

What are your favourite tips for starting and ending scenes?

If you have any advice, or strategies that work for you when it comes to starting and ending a scene, let us know! Share your thoughts in the comments below. And let me know if you disagree with any of my advice!

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