JPC Allen Writes

Welcome to my writing pages!  The main focus of this website is to offer writing tips, prompts, and inspiration to writers, no matter what their genre or skill level. You’ll also find information on my published works and the ones in progress. My schedule for posting is:

Monday Sparks: Writing prompts to fan your creative flame.

Thursdays – Writing tips based on a monthly theme

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How to End a Scene and Keep Readers Turning Pages

Writing scenes for novels

Knowing when and how to end a scene takes a lot of practice for writers. Even though I’m working on my fifth book, sometimes, I forget to end a scene in the first draft and just keep writing and writing. When I review my work, I realize I need to make transitions. Even when I realize a scene needs an ending, it sometimes difficult to write it. Like I’m composing a tune and the last note sounds off. Here are tips on how to end a scene and keep readers turning pages.

Put tension in the last line of a scene.

This end to a scene is pretty obvious, ending with some kind of cliffhanger. Here’s a scene from Chapter 2 in my third novel A Riddle in the Lonesome October. My protagonist, Rae Riley, who’s twenty, is eating a late supper with her dad. They’re chatting at the dinner table in the family farmhouse. The landline rings, and Rae’s grandmother answers it.

*****

“That was Jeanine.” Gram placed the landline in its base, concern creasing her normal expression of quiet assurance. “Something’s wrong. Coral’s horse came back to their house without her.” 

*****

But you can’t, and shouldn’t, end each scene with the promise of dire circumstances.

Give readers something to think about.

Because I write mysteries, ending a scene with the thought process of my amateur sleuth Rae not only shows readers how Rae is considering the evidence, it gives them time to think about it too.

In A Shadow on the Snow, my first novel, Rae is trying to figure out on her own who is leaving increasingly threatening notes. In this scene, she’s organized the information she’s gathered so far.

*****

The stalker was someone who could have been out in the woods late on Wednesday morning and had an opportunity to leave the note between 8:30 a.m. Friday when I left for work and about 1:30 this morning. 

After jotting those conclusions in my notebook, I searched social media for any nasty comments about Mal or me. Then I reviewed my previous research. It wasn’t until dawn lit the sky that I finally collapsed on my couch. 

*****

The first paragraph gives readers something to think about. The second shows how committed Rae is to her investigation. And the toll it’s taking.

Asking questions in the mind of the protagonist is a great way to get people to think. The end of this scene is from A Storm of Doubts, and Rae is pondering the latest development in a missing persons case.

*****

Once out of the neighborhood, I hurried into a jog. Why had the Chief conducted the search? And did finding nothing make The Mystery of the Missing Ex-wife clearer or murkier? 

*****

Hint at what’s to come in the novel.

This kind of end to a scene makes a promise to readers and gives them something to look forward to as they read on. At the end of Chapter 4 in A Storm of Doubts, Rae’s father Mal is explaining to her younger half-brothers that while the family is attending a Memorial Day picnic, they have to stay with an adult because Mal just learned his con man uncle, who hates him, is in town.

*****

Stroking his cheek with one finger, Micah said, “What about if I have to go to the bathroom?” 

“Get Hank,” Dad called over his shoulder. 

“What if I can’t find him?” 

“Ma can stand outside the door.” 

“What if Uncle Troy comes into the bathroom?” 

“Ma!” Dad sent out an SOS. 

Gram put her arm around Micah. “We’ll be able to find Hank if we need him.” She took hold of his hand. “The fire department’s picnic is at the school, so let’s—” 

She looked up to the hill, and we all followed her gaze. 

Uncle Troy and China watched us a moment, then turned and disappeared among the evergreen bushes and headstones. 

*****

Here are more tips on writing scenes for novels.

Of the three examples for how to end a scene, which one do think is best at keeping readers turning pages?

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How to Write Short, High-Impact Scenes in a Novel

Advice on writing novel scenes

Sometimes, when you’re writing a novel, you need to get information to the readers, but you can’t get that information to fit naturally in one of your long, complicated scenes. There’s nothing wrong with creating a brief scene, or as I like to call them, hall scenes. Hall scenes are short scenes that connect longer scenes, like a hall running between rooms in your house. Here are tips on how to write short, high-impact scenes in a novel.

Use a hall scene to telescope time.

In my first novel, A Shadow on the Snow, I needed to tell the readers that a week has passed from the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. I decided to use a hall scene before diving into a longer scene that has major revelation in the stalker case my amateur sleuth Rae Riley is trying to solve. Here’s the scene:

*****

When Uncle Hank dropped me off at work Thursday morning, he said, “Now if that stalker corners you in the library, just grab the biggest book you can find and read it to him. Should put him to sleep in a couple pages. Always did me when I was in school.” 

“I’ll keep it in mind.” I grinned as I retied the scrunchy holding my braid. “But nothing’s happened in a week. Since I’m living at the farm, maybe he’s given up.” 

“Unless he’s as mad as a rabid dog, he should give up. The Big Guy’ll pound him into the ground if he catches him.” 

I waved as Uncle Hank pulled away, then I headed inside …

*****

I let readers know time has passed, and I also have fun letting them get to know a minor character better.

Have fun with short scenes.

If it makes sense for the kind of story you’re telling, work humor into a short scene. All scenes need tension, and humor is one way to keep readers turning the page after finishing a short scene. This short scene is from my second novel, A Storm of Doubts. It was important to the plot to let readers know who lived next door to a suspect in a missing person case. I decided to have fun with it.

*****

“Oh-oh, I can’t believe it.” Leandra stared at her phone just after opening the library the next morning. 

“What?” I placed the last item on the hold shelf behind our desk from the inter-library loan delivery. 

“My mother-in-law says Chief Simcox is searching Jason Carlisle’s house.” Her normal bubbly voice grew more effervescent. 

“How does she know? Does she live in Jason’s neighborhood?” 

Leandra thumbed her keyboard. “No. I’ll ask.” 

While she texted her mother-in-law, a symphony of pings chirped from Leandra’s phone. I must not have had friends who gossiped because my phone didn’t make a peep. 

“Dottie says her sister called her after her sister-in-law texted her after her friend Debbie Schuster, who lives next door to Jason, texted her.” Leandra’s plump face shone with her ever-present smile. 

“Debbie Schuster?” My fingers hung suspended over a keyboard. “Is she related to Senator Schuster?” 

“Yes. She’s his mother. The Schusters have lived next door to the Carlisles for years.” Her smile tilted. “I wonder why the Chief is searching Jason’s house.” 

*****

Not only do I convey who lives next door to Jason Carlisle, but I get to reinforce that this is a rural county where everyone knows everyone else.

End a chapter with a short scene for high impact.

For almost forty pages near the beginning of my third novel, A Riddle in the Lonesome October, I detail how Rae and her family react to the terrible riding accident that has left her beloved uncle fighting for his life. Since her dad Mal isn’t as visibly emotional as her uncle’s wife and daughters, I needed a way to show how the accident was affecting Mal, who had grown up with his brother-in-law.

After a lengthy scene in the hospital cafeteria, I ended the chapter this way, to give the chapter an emotional punch:

*****

Releasing a long sigh, Dad said, “Rae, let’s transfer all their stuff into their vehicle and head home.” 

Our conversation was restricted to essentials until I had the Beast back on the state highway. A light rain pattered on the windshield. 

Dad said in a somber voice, “Do not mention Em to anyone today.” 

I took a quick breath as a car swished by me. “I—I forgot we were going to the cemetery today.” 

“We aren’t now. We’ll honor Em when … when things are better.” His last word was hoarse, and he cleared his throat. “She’d understand.” 

The rain streaked our side windows, and I cranked my wipers to a higher speed. I had a glimmer of why Dad loathed October. 

Hands on his knees, Dad stared down. “You know, there’s never been a time I didn’t know Hank.” 

I moved my hand from the knob for the wipers and squeezed his fingers. 

*****

Add variety to your writing style.

Short scenes change the rhythm of your novel-writing by allowing you to add settings and characters that might not work in a longer scene. And variety is almost always welcome when writing a novel.

Here is more advice on writing scenes for novels.

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Write the Next Line of this Scene

Writing prompts for scenes of novels

Since I’m focusing on writing scenes this month on JPC Allen, my prompt today is to ask you to write the next line of this scenes. I love photos that suggest stories, and this one suggested one as soon as I saw it. Here’s the beginning.

*****

“Sophie?” I stared at the girl hunched over the table in my favorite coffee shop. I should say young woman, if it was Sophie. We’d graduated high school six years ago.

She whipped her head up from using her phone. “Alex,” she said in a kind of yip. “What are you doing here?”

“I moved here about seven months ago.” I gestured at the empty chair in front of her.

She stared at it, like she hadn’t noticed it before, and then jerked a nod.

Taking the seat, I said, “I majored in international finance at OSU and got my first job with here with a software company, What have you been doing? Getting music gigs?”

She gave me a feeble smile. “Band was always my favorite class.” She looked past me, as if peering through the huge wall of windows behind me. Her dark eyes bolted wide open.

“Sophie, is something wrong?”

She hunched back over the table and said …

*****

So let me know how you would write the next line of this scene.

Here are more prompts for writing scenes.

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How to Write Suspense Scenes in a Novel: a Step-by-Step Guide

A step-by-step guide on writing suspense

Last week, I posted advice on how to write an action scene for a novel. Now I’m back with how to write suspense scenes in a novel: a step-by-step guide. In one way, suspense scenes are the flip side of actions scenes. Action scenes build tension through actions that pile up on one another, quickening the pace of the story. Suspense scenes build tension by slowing the pace, forcing readers to think about what the protagonist may face when the suspense is resolved.

Below is a scene from my short story, “Bovine.” A snobby New York novelist, Harrison Sharpe, has planned what he thinks is the perfect murder of his supermodel wife, Ari. The point of this scene is to make readers worry if he’ll succeed.

*****

The cabin peeped through the trees, a light in the window of the living room the only visible illumination. I made a wide circle around the hovel, the damp seeping through the ill-made soles of my shoes. The rest of the house was dark. 

  • I’m setting the mood in these lines–it’s dark and the cabin is isolated. I don’t have to describe the setting much because this scene is part of the climax, so readers are already familiar with the cabin and the landscape around it.

Slipping off my mask, I walked to the back door, unlocked it, entered, and lifted the shield to the control panel for the alarm. 

  • I’m taking the time to add details that heighten the tension. Not only does this help readers imagine what Harrison is doing, it’s delaying the revelation of his wife’s fate.

Strange. The warning beep hadn’t blared to life. 

I peered at the control screen. It indicated Ari hadn’t bothered to set the alarm. 

Very thoughtful. 

  • These lines reveal plot points that will be explained later.

Lowering the shield, I waited for Ari to greet me. 

But the house was still, the hum of the refrigerator the only noise. 

She must have gone to bed. 

The light from a single lamp in the living room touched the kitchen. I found the drawer for utensils and withdrew the chef’s knife. Tugging my mask into place, I passed through the living room and into the hall, my heart gathering speed. 

  • I reinforce the loneliness of the setting while giving details of Harrison’s progress through the house. The details should also make readers’ hearts gather speed.

The door to the master bedroom stood half open. 

I pushed it aside and slipped into the room. 

“Ari,” I called softly to a mound of comforters and quilts on the queen-sized bed. 

No sound, no movement. 

“Ari.” 

No response. 

  • Each time his wife doesn’t react, the suspense mounts.

I clenched the knife and my teeth. Had she taken a sedative instead of her migraine medicine? Her insensibility would drain all the enjoyment from my plan. She had to know she couldn’t humiliate me in front of the whole world and steal my money. She had to know before she died. 

  • His action and internal monologue makes Harrison’s motives crystal clear and raises the stakes, creating suspense.

I rounded the chest situated at the foot of the bed. 

Silence. 

As my heart rocketed into high velocity, I switched on the flashlight. 

The mound was so high that I couldn’t detect Ari’s head. The bracelet twinkled on the nightstand. I’d pocket that when I was finished. 

*****

I’m not revealing how I resolve the suspense because few things are worse than a spoiled mystery. If you’d like to read all of “Bovine”, you can buy the anthology it belongs to here.

Here are more tips on writing scenes for novels.

Which authors do you think are especially talented at writing suspense?

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Recommend Books with the Best Action Scenes

Favorite books with action scenes

My theme this month is about how to write different kinds of scenes, so my prompt is a bookish question: recommend books with the best action scenes. Of course, everyone will interpret “best” in their own way. For me, the best action scenes let me feel what the POV character is experiencing during the action while also being perfectly oriented in the story world. Even if the action gets chaotic, I understand which characters are involved and what setting they’re in.

The fantasy “Watershed Down” by Richard Adams has some exceptional action that meet the above qualifications. The remarkable thing about these action scenes is that the POV characters are rabbits. And yet Mr. Adams has created such vivid characters that I’m carried along with the emotions of the action scenes.

So put your recommendations for books with the best action scenes below.

Here are writing prompts for scenes for novels.

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