Writing a great scene is hard. Writing a great novel scene is even harder. It has to be effective in itself, and it also has to propel forward the plot and narrative arc of the book.
When I was a graduate student in music, I wandered into a used bookstore, opened a copy of Anna Karenina, and couldn’t put it down. I read all day and night for five days and got such terrible eye strain that for weeks I needed sunglasses even indoors to protect my eyes from the light. The optometrist told me to remember to blink while I read, and to look away from the book once in a while.
What had made me forget to blink, look away, eat, and sleep? Great, great scenes. Twenty years later, I still remember them unfolding in my mind for the first time.
I thought I’d take a look at a scene from Anna Karenina to figure out what makes it so effective.