GREAT BOOKS ARE MADE OF GREAT SCENES.

Once you learn how to write great scenes, you're on your way to writing the compelling, page-turning books readers love.
❤️ Agents and editors love them, too! ❤️


⏰ LIMITED TIME OFFER: START LEARNING TODAY FOR ONLY $47! ⏰

 

YES! I’m ready to make a scene

If writing fiction is your passion...


...but you’re not making the progress you wish you were, you’re not alone.

Maybe you’ve lost some motivation as a result.

It’s frustrating. I get it.

It’s hard to keep going when you know your work doesn’t quite work, but you can’t put your finger on why.

Or when you get negative responses—or no response at all!—and you still have no idea what you’re doing wrong. 

Let’s fix that right now. 

It’s time to get out of the frustration zone. 

How?

Start by writing a great scene.

GREAT STORIES ARE MADE OF GREAT SCENES.

A great story doesn't happen by accident. It’s something we writers build—scene after scene after scene.

Writing well-structured scenes is something you can learn how to do. Making Scenes: A Guide for Fiction Writers is a self-paced online course that will help you

  • Learn how to think in scenes, not words.
  • Understand how well-structured scenes move your story forward and keep your reader eager to find out what happens next.
  • Know exactly how to plan, draft, evaluate and revise each scene that you write.

Here’s what’s inside the course: 

WHAT IS A SCENE?

We all know books have chapters, but what exactly do we mean by a scene? Learn why it’s good to break our storytelling into chunks.

SCENES MOVE THE STORY FORWARD

Scenes have a job to do—they move the story forward. How? That’s what you’ll learn in this lesson.

THE FIVE INGREDIENTS

If you want to bake a cake, first you gather the ingredients. A well-structured scene has five ingredients. Learn what they are and why they matter.

ALL ABOUT BEATS

Something dynamic and energy-producing happens at the core of every well-structured scene. Beats are the key.

SEE IT IN ACTION

Ever wish you could go through a scene with the author and learn exactly why they did it that way? Here’s where we go step-by-step through a complete scene and see how every concept you’ve learned works on the page.

A PROCESS THAT WORKS

Okay, storyteller. It’s your turn! This comprehensive framework (in helpful checklist form) will remind you exactly what to do as you plan, write, and revise dynamic, storytelling scenes of your own.

I NEED THIS COURSE!

“This course is great. I’ll be coming back to these lessons again and again. The six pages of checklists are invaluable. (And wow! A big thank-you to Maryrose for the annotated Big Robot scene. Reading that really, really helped with my understanding of scenes.)”

 
Bridgett Bell Langson

“This whole course is really transforming my understanding of scenes and storytelling.”

 
Nancy Partridge

“Thank you for making this course! I now feel as if there is solid ground to stand on when I approach my scenes. It’s a ‘big picture‘ training I didn’t realize I needed.“

 
Sara Bowen

ABOUT MARYROSE

Hey there! I'm Maryrose Wood. Like you, I’m a writer. I'm best known for writing middle-grade fiction, but I've also written YA novels, screenplays, and works for the stage. I’m currently working on my first picture book, which is so fun! 

All told, I've got 15 published novels to my credit, with number 16 coming in 2026. I've been published by Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Hachette.

I'm proud to teach and mentor students from the perspective of an experienced working writer. I’ve never stopped being fascinated by the deeply human need for story. It’s truly part of us.

Personal stuff: I grew up on Long Island (in New York), studied at New York University, and spent my twenties in New York, working in the theater, which was a formative experience as a storyteller, too. 

After many years living and raising my two kids in New York, I moved to Southern California for a time. I’m grateful for my dear friends in both places! Now I live, write, and teach from my home in southern Italy, not far from the town where my grandparents were from.

“MAKING SCENES provides manageable, clear lessons on how to study and write scenes. I've studied writing for a long time, but nothing—not the concepts of desire and obstacle or action and reaction—has helped me to transform my writing from strings of meandering sentences into scenes more than Maryrose Wood’s teaching.”

 
Kristyn Winters

“I am so glad that Maryrose created this course. It’s short yet thorough and beautiful to watch. And when it came time for me to sit down and write a scene, I loved that I had simple guidelines and a clear picture in my head of how to go about the task. The careful attention that went into explaining things simply, making the videos visually stunning, and designing assignments that were targeted, practical, and fun cannot be overstated. Definitely worth the time and cost!

 
Ann Nelson

START LEARNING TODAY

Master the building blocks of story. Learn how to write great scenes. 

❤️ You'll love the difference it makes in your writing. ❤️

⏰ LIMITED TIME OFFER! ⏰

Only $47

Normally $297

  • Immediate access to Making Scenes: A Guide for Fiction Writers. Get started today!
  • You have lifetime access to the course. Go at your own pace.
  • Downloadable transcripts for every lesson
  • Downloadable assignments for each lesson
  • Downloadable audio versions of each lesson
I'M READY TO GET STARTED!