on Live Write Thrive:

Novels are made up of scenes—obviously. Like a string of pearls on a necklace, each scene must be complete, presenting characters moving within a capsule of time, accomplishing specific purposes or objectives that move the plot to the exciting climax and resolution of your story.

While not all scenes are structured the same—as certain types of scenes serve different purposes (see the book Writing Deep Scenes by Alderson and Rosenfeld)—for the most part, scenes function as mini novels, with a beginning, a rising middle, and a climax at the end.

Unlike most novel endings, scene endings often dangle and don’t wholly resolve. However, they should feel complete—that is, the purpose of the scene should be apparent to the reader in the last three lines. Everything in a scene builds to this high moment at the end.

Many writing instructors and books on fiction craft discuss this shape of scenes. But I’d like to go deeper and share a perspective and method that I teach in my master classes.