How to write good scenes

| JUNE NEWSLETTER | Writing Prompts & FREE Workshop: How to Write Good Scenes & why this will change your writing

Dear reader, writer and fellow creative,

Thank you for allowing me into your inbox, and a special welcome to new subscribers!

Today’s newsletter comes to you from Frankfurt, Germany, where I’ve touched down for a brief family reunion, to celebrate my niece’s wedding, and to hang with my family for a week. I’m expected in Bali on the 23rd of June for our annual retreat (hit reply on this email if you’re interested in Bali 2026, June 26 - July 2, bookings open soon!).

Rest and relaxation in beautiful, quiet North West Bali

I’ll keep this newsletter brief. Just wanted to tell you why learning how to write in scenes was life-changing for me, and to remind you that we’re teaching a FREE workshop this coming Sunday, June 15, 5pm AEST (8am London; 9am Frankfurt) on How To Write Good Scenes.

Writing in scenes – ‘showing’ your story

Learning how to write in scenes was a game-changer for me. The early drafts of what eventually became my published memoir, Loving my lying, dying, cheating husband (Affirm Press 2024), read like a police report. I simply added one memory after another, in chronological order, page after page, inclusive of every minute detail, clueless about structure and narrative arc.

I crafted beautiful paragraphs about the sadness of grief; and I wrote chapters and chapters of descriptions of the progression of my husband’s cancer, like I was keeping a medical log-book or an inventory.

It took a while, and a conscious effort of reading through the lens of a writer, before I understood that my readers would not care what side of his skull my husband bore a large scar, or whether the pea-sized lump that triggered his cancer had been found behind his left or his right ear.

What makes a story interesting, I eventually realised, is not how many lymph nodes were dissected (was it 34 or 35, I could never remember), but the questions it raised. What happens to a human body when it looses so many lymph nodes? How long will he be able to live? What will happen if the cancer returns? What will happen to the protagonist if her husband’s health declines?

In other words, you want your reader to:

• ask ‘what happens next'?’

• feel what your protagonist feels

• remain suspended between hope and fear (ie. will he survive or will he die from cancer?)

That’s how you create suspense and narrative drive. To do that you need to show, not tell your story. You do that by breaking the story into scenes, which slows the story down, allowing the reader to live the events as they unfold.

Once I understood how to write in scenes, the structure of my book gradually fell into place. I was blessed to learn from the best, the memoir coach Wendy Dale.

The world was in lock-down due to the pandemic, Wendy was in Cusco, Peru, I was in Australia’s tropical Far North, the class started at 5am (my time), and to this day, I am amazed how much you can learn about writing scenes before the sun’s up.

According to Wendy, it boils down to these key takeaways:

• scenes equal events; scenes are where stuff happens in your story

• scenes are the building blocks of plot

• every scene exists because something happens

• if a scene is not relevant to your story, it has no reason to exist

• every scene needs to build to a main event

• structure is created by making one main event relevant to the next; by connecting one event to the next

Thankfully Wendy has now collected everything she’s learned in over fourteen years of teaching memoir in her new book. The Memoir Engineering System: Make your First Draft Your Final Draft (Wendy Dale, Parenthesis Press, 2024). I highly recommend this book, not least because she’s quoted from my book in chapter six.

I highly recommend Wendy Dale's book, and I am very flattered that she's quoted from my book!

Free Writing Workshop: How to Write Good Scenes

Want to know more about scenes and how to write them? Join us Sunday, June 15, 5pm AEST (8am London; 9am Frankfurt) for a FREE workshop on How To Write Good Scenes.

Below are writing prompts to help you sketch a few scenes.

Let’s stick with the wedding theme, given that I am about to attend one. I can count on one hand the weddings I have attended, given that most of my friends didn’t bother to tie the knot, so it’s very exciting.

• Write a scene about a family wedding where tension is rife between the bride’s and groom’s families.

• Write about two characters going on a blind date.

• Write a scene about a newly wed couple having an argument.

• Write a flashback scene where something is revealed about one of the two newly weds, which explains the argument in the previous scene.

• Write a scene just in dialogue between the bride’s brother and the groom.

As always, set a timer and write like the wind without stopping to think or edit. Share in the comments what came up. And make sure you join us for our live workshop. on Sunday June 15 at 5pm AEST.

How about a Writing Holiday Under the Tuscan Sun?

Need more than a one-hour workshop with us? Why not join us for a week of in-person workshops in beautiful Tuscany later this year. We’ve got one deluxe double room left at our Incredible Italy Retreat, October 10-17, 2025. Bring a friend, or your partner, and enjoy a special discount! More info here, or hit reply on this email.

Or plan ahead for 2026 when we’ve got Blissful Bali (June 26 - July 2nd, 2026) & Beautiful Byron (19-26 September, 2026) on offer.

I’ve been meaning to share this podcast interview with the fabulous Amanda Kendle from the Thoughtful Travel podcast. I met Amanda over a decade ago at a blogging conference, back in the day when I ran my travelblog (now defunct). Amanda still runs her beautiful travel blog, Not a Ballerina, and now has almost a decade of travel podcasting under her belt.

I was a guest on one of her first episodes and I was thrilled to be included in this round of guests from the early years. We spoke about how travel has changed for us over the years. Listen to the podcast to find out why traveling to East Nusa Tenggara in Indonesia with a Woolworth bag and no plan or clue was one of my most memorable recent trips.

That’s it from me for today. I hope these writing prompts and tips have been useful. Please share this newsletter, comment and tick a like to help me make this newsletter more visible to other readers. I hope to see you in the live workshop on Sunday June 15 at 5pm AEST!

With many blessings,