Foundations of Fiction: Writing in Scenes (Writing Mastery)

Student reviews for Foundations of Fiction: Writing in Scenes:
"This course is wonderful! My hope in taking the course was to strengthen my understanding of crafting scenes. After completing the course, I feel so confident in my writing abilities now."
-Manda S.

"This is truly an excellent course. There is so much to be learned and the writing prompts and exercises are key to mastering the skills Jordan works so hard to impart. There were many revelations in this course for me."
-Peter A.

Have you ever poured your heart and soul into a writing session, only to realize that the words on the page fall short of the vision in your head?

It’s like picturing a beautiful, technicolor sunset in your mind, but what lands on the page is more like a basic black-and-white sketch.

Something essential seems to get lost in the translation.

If this sounds familiar, rest assured, you're not alone. It's a common frustration that most writers, new and experienced, grapple with.

And it’s not surprising, given that most writing advice focuses on either the big picture story arc, or the nitty-gritty details like sentence structure and word choice.

Most writing advice misses the middle ground, where the true magic of storytelling happens: the scene.

This very realization is why we’ve collaborated with author and scene-writing expert Jordan Rosenfeld (known for her bestselling craft books like Make a Scene and Writing Deep Scenes from Writer’s Digest Books) to create Foundations of Fiction: Writing in Scenes.

This course is designed for writers working on novels, short stories, novellas, memoir, or narrative non-fiction who want to take their scene-writing skills to the next level.

Packed with strategies, templates, tips, and examples from popular novels, this course will give you a step-by-step approach to writing powerful, dynamic scenes that will work time and time again.

How this course is structured:

• The course begins with a “Starter Scene” writing prompt designed to pinpoint your current skills and set the stage for your journey

• In the Basic Scene Design section, you'll discover all the components of a great scene and get introduced to the Basic Scene Design Checklist

• In the next three sections, you'll start enhancing your basic scene using three of the most impactful tools for elevating scenes: Emotion, Pacing, and Subtext

• Finally, you'll practice combining all your new skills to write an enhanced scene from scratch

• Plus, at the end of the course, you'll learn some tips on transitioning from one scene to the next, so all your scenes build upon each other to create an unforgettable story

As the course progresses, you’ll be revising your Starter Scene using all your newly acquired skills. By the end, you’ll have revised it into a well-structured, engaging scene that shines!

Plus you'll have a before-and-after snapshot so you can clearly see your progress from writer to Scene Crafting Master!

So if you’re ready to take your scenes and storytelling to the next level, enroll now and start your journey towards becoming a Scene Crafting Master today!

Praise for Foundations of Fiction: Writing in Scenes:

"This course helped me to draft more confidently, and therefore more quickly."
-C.P. Silver

"I have written a fair number of scenes over the past two years since I started writing. This course has been a fantastic addition to my tool kit. It offers an official look at scenes and has left me with something I can use within my planning, writing and editing. I love the fact I have come away with a checklist that neatens up my planning templates and helps focus my mind. I have already started using the templates to replot my story. Thank you, this will save me time and energy moving forward."
-Zoe J.

"The basic scene design was very helpful for me as a beginner."
-Mike G.

"Excellent course presented with helpful guidelines. Breakdowns of what makes a good scene were easy to understand and gave a great checklist for revising. Highly recommend."
-Kathleen K.

"This course gave me labels to unbox and identify while reading--helping me learn by breaking down another's scene; but it also gave me a guide to polish and plan my own scenes. Thank you."
-Becky L.

"I have learned so much from this course. I'm sure I will come back to it again and again to keep on honing my skills, diving deeper into the rich content. Thank you very much Jordan."
-Maureen P.

"It caused me to rewrite my opening several times until I now believe I "Got It Right". I read it and go "Wow, I actually wrote this." Now I have to make the rest of the story live up to the opening, a worthwhile challenge."
-Fred H.

"The course will really help me break down the scenes of the novel I'm revising. I've already recognized areas where scenes were lacking. Each bit I improve as a writer is a milestone and this course has helped me do that!"
-Sean H.

"I liked how it broke down using emotion, pacing, and subtext in a scene. These are concepts I've always known about, but Jordan did an excellent job of taking them apart. They seem so much more attainable than before. I've learned so much."
-Andrew F.

"I love the course! There's so much good stuff in there. I think basic scene structure was something I needed to pay more attention to. Listening to Jordan talk about ways to use emotions, pacing, and subtext sparked so many ideas for my current WIP. I am generally a little resistant about doing exercises because I want to work on my WIP. But, I did Jordan's and glad I did. They were fun and valuable."
-Diane S.

"This is one of the best courses I have ever taken. Clear explanation and instruction. Of course it is not easy to write a really good scene but it feels a lot easier after this course."
-Inga

"I reworked a scene that had been bothering me, using the tools from this course. The scene is so much better now. I'm going to keep it in mind as I go through my chapters again, to see where else I should try this technique to pull my story to the next level. Thank you for another great course. This one is a favorite!"
-Catherine D.

Why Learn from Us?

Jordan Rosenfeld is the author of the forthcoming novel Fallout (Running Wild Press), Women in Red, Forged in Grace, and six books on the craft of writing, most recently How to Write a Page-Turner, the bestselling Make a Scene, Writing the Intimate Character, A Writer’s Guide to Persistence, Writing Deep Scenes and Write Free. Her freelance articles and essays have been published in hundreds of publications, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, Scientific American, Writer’s Digest Magazine, The Washington Post, and many more. She is also a freelance manuscript editor and ghostwriter, and she's packed this course with all her knowledge of scene writing to help make your stories a success.

Jessica Brody is a bestselling author, top-rated Udemy instructor with over 60,000 students, and founder of Writing Mastery. She is the author of more than 20 novels plus Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, the #1 bestselling plotting guide for novelists.

Writing Mastery only partners with the most qualified writing instructors to bring you high-quality courses you can trust.

In fact, we guarantee it with a 30-day 100% money-back guarantee!

We are confident you’ll love this course. But if, for any reason, you don’t, we’ll give you a full refund.

Enroll now and start your journey to becoming a scene-crafting master today!