I like car rides.

(Stay with me. I promise this relates.)

I've always liked car rides. But in my experience, there are a lot of people who don't. I've been tailgated so many times that it's not even funny. I've been passed on the road, and I've seen cars zoom off well above the posted speed limit.

Why is that? Why do people rush about everywhere? Why don't they sit down and just ... enjoy the car ride?

I use car rides to pray. I use car rides to listen to music and really think about the words and what the song is saying. I use car rides to brainstorm ideas (since it's finally quiet). I use it to sing at the top of my lungs along to my favorite songs.

Why doesn't everyone appreciate car rides?

Because it's just a "step". It's transportation. The car ride itself is not what you're aiming for. What you're aiming for is the destination. A lot of people have only that in mind: I want to get home. When I get home I'll do this this and this. Or, I want to get to the store. When I do, I'll get this, this, and this.

The car ride itself is almost a nuisance. Because, for a lot of people, a car ride is just a car ride. Let's call it "filler".

Now you see where I'm going, yes? MWAHAHA.

There are things your character has to do. There are places your character has to go, things they have to see, in order for the story to flow right. But often times, the only reason a given scene might be in a book is because it needs to be there for the sake of flow. It has the sole purpose of getting your character from step 1 to step 2. That's it. That's its purpose.

And as a result, it's boring and flat. It doesn't stick out. It's easy to skim past.

How do we avoid that? How do we make every scene in our stories really matter? Not just there to fulfill the purpose of transitioning.

Can we even make every scene matter?

I am a firm believer that yes, you can. Every scene has the potential to matter. Every word in your story is precious.

Last year at the MYWW, I sat in a workshop class taught by Jonathan Friesen. He talked about how a story is made of moments. He defined a moment as a instant in time where something changes. A belief, a desire, a plan. Something in the character's world (and it doesn't have to be the MC) changes, for better or for worse.

That concept has stuck with me ever since. It has made me view my story differently, and brought emotional depth to my writing and my reading. I notice things in books now that I didn't before.

Emotional depth is not easy. Every now and then, I'll be writing along and realize I'm writing somethign really important. I had one of those (my own little moment, if you will) yesterday, when my characters were arguing. Leni, my MC, wants to steal something from the person she thinks cast the curse on their neighborhood. But Gunther, her friend and companion in breaking the curse, doesn't think Leni's suspect did it. At least, that's what he said.


I'm not claiming to have crafted an expert work here (#firstdrafting) but I was aware of something important happening while typing this. I stopped and took a screenshot, but I've been thinking about it ever since.

Why did this scene stick out? Why is this so important?

It's important because something changes. (In my book, this statement is even a bigger deal hehe but we'll stick with generalities.)

What changes?

Gunther changes. He acknowledges that no one is going to swoop in and save the day. The work isn't magically going to get done while he sits back in safety and watches. Gunther does want the curse to end, and he knows he can make a difference ... but he doesn't want to change it.

Now, he can't play pretend anymore. He can't lie to himself or Leni any longer. He's admitted it to the both of them.

Now, Gunther has to make a choice. To be the one to stand up and make a change, or to run to safety and let the curse rage on.

Not every moment in your story is going to be huge and meaningful. Your story is full of big moments, but it's also full of little moments.

The important thing is that your story is full of change. Big changes, little changes. Think about your life. How many changes, big and small, do you experience every day?

If you have a dull scene, or something that just feels flat to you, take advantage of it. Make it into a moment. Have that character reflect on what's been happening in the story. Sometimes the moments when not much is happening are the most meaningful to your story. There where your character has time to reflect, and make more choices about future actions they take.

Make your scenes matter.


I was feeling this topic, so I posted it. XP Next week I'll try to give a nice Nano Pep talk, and then hopefully eventually sometime in the next blue moon I'll get to that Workshop post ;P

What about you? Do you struggle with story filler? Do you see how you could add some meaning to it to make it a moment?