Readers like pleasurable tension and curiousity. They want it to help distract them from their own world and it s our pleasure and our job to provide it for them. We begin by presenting them with a story question. This is the protagonists and readers main concern throughout your novel. It needs to be established early and clearly so the reader knows what the stakes are, and so suspense and worry for the character will be created.
Scenes act to set up a question and interest.
Sequels acts to show the character s emotional and intellectual response and their choice of the next step. If I do my job properly, they will wonder about this and worry for her until the last page. To do my job properly, I need to keep this question in mind throughout the novel, present the key elements early and make sure they relate to the question, and answer it in the end. It s the twists and turns that will keep this question in my readers minds without boring them. That s where scene and sequel comes in.