Scene goal
A scene goal is the specific thing the viewpoint character is trying to achieve within a single scene, which turns that scene into a question the reader wants answered before the scene ends.
State the goal and you have stated a question: will she get the loan? The scene now has an ending condition, and everything inside it is measured against that.
How it works
Deborah Chester's The Fantasy Fiction Formula treats this as the working unit of construction. Each scene goal becomes its own scene question, answered at the scene's close, and as soon as a goal is formed, stated or acted on, something should oppose it. Let no scene pass without opposition.
The answer is usually no, and worse. The best-planned scenes end by making the protagonist's position worse and by eliminating an option they were counting on, and the setback lands hardest when it comes partly out of their own efforts rather than bad luck. The other strong answer is yes, but: they get what they wanted, and it costs more than they expected.
Two goals in one scene
The strongest version gives two characters opposing goals. In The Runner, a feature screenplay by Jeffrey Doka, the editor behind Final Boss Editing, the F.B.I. pilot, Sandra, states hers plainly.
SANDRA
He has time to out maneuver us now, I'm forcing them down.
On the same page, in the other cockpit, Rich sets his: "We take a dive they can't follow." Now the chase has a question with two sides. Why it works: each answer is one of the two strong endings. Sandra's is no, and worse: she follows the dive, her plane's rear windows burst, and she has to call an emergency landing. Rich's is yes, but: he escapes, and on page 8 learns the dive burned so much fuel that he needs a backup landing strip.
The eight ways scenes fail
Scenes fail in a small number of identifiable ways, and the list is worth keeping beside a revision pass:
- A muddled or missing goal.
- A goal that gets forgotten halfway through.
- Split focus.
- A passive protagonist.
- A bystander protagonist, watching someone else's scene.
- A problem simply too big to engage with.
- The hand of fate solving things.
- Weak conflict.
One of our live edits boils the first test down to this: is your main character following orders? If someone else defines the goal, the scene belongs to them.
Then the pressure is released in the sequel, where the character reacts and chooses the next goal.
Frequently asked questions
What is a scene goal?
A scene goal is what the main character in a scene is trying to get before the scene ends: a yes, a confession, an escape, a key. It is smaller than the goal of the whole story and usually a step toward it.
How is a scene goal different from the story goal?
The story goal runs the length of the book, such as getting home or catching the killer. A scene goal is one concrete step on the way, and its outcome, usually a setback, sets up the next scene.