# The Choreography of a Scene with Rene Gutteridge - #338 Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-indy-author-podcast-1109171/the-choreography-of-a-scene-with-rene-gutteridge-338 Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-indy-author-podcast-1109171/the-choreography-of-a-scene-with-rene-gutteridge-338.md Podcast: [The Indy Author Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-indy-author-podcast-1109171) Published: 2026-06-02T09:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://theindyauthor.libsyn.com/the-choreography-of-a-scene-with-rene-gutteridge-338 Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/theindyauthor/TIAP_338_Renee_Gutteridge_Episode_LIBSYN.mp3?dest-id=386964 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-indy-author-podcast-1109171/episodes/the-choreography-of-a-scene-with-rene-gutteridge-338 Duration seconds: 2781 ## Resource Matty Dalrymple talks with Rene Gutteridge about THE CHOREOGRAPHY OF A SCENE, including how to identify the purpose of every scene before you write it, where to enter a scene for maximum impact, how to balance propulsive moments with the quieter character-development scenes your story also needs, and why every element in a scene—from minor characters to setting—should be doing more than one job. We also talk about why so many manuscripts open with someone drinking coffee, and what to do about it. Interview video at https://www.youtube.com/@TheIndyAuthorPodcast/podcasts Show notes, including extensive summary and transcript, at https://www.theindyauthor.com/episodes-all If you find the information in this video useful, please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Rene Gutteridge has been writing professionally for over twenty years, with projects spanning fiction, non-fiction, comedy sketches, novelizations and screenwriting. She is the multi-genre author of 24 novels plus several non-fiction titles. Her indie film Skid won deadCenter's Best Oklahoma Feature, and her novel My Life as a Doormat was adapted into the Hallmark movie Love's Complicated. She is co-writer on the feature film Family Camp, which was a Movieguide award winner and a Dove Award nominee. She is also a Screencraft finalist in true crime. Rene is co-director of WriterCon in Oklahoma City, senior contributor at Writing Momentum and is the head writer at 231 Collective. Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers, beginning with ROCK PAPER SCISSORS; the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, beginning with THE SENSE OF DEATH; and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and S… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-indy-author-podcast-1109171/episodes/the-choreography-of-a-scene-with-rene-gutteridge-338/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-indy-author-podcast-1109171/the-choreography-of-a-scene-with-rene-gutteridge-338.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.