How scenes fail: 1.) Muddled or missing scene goal 2.) Forgotten scene goal 3.) A split focus 4.) A passive protagonist 5.) A bystander protagonist 6.) A problem that's too big 7.) The hand of fate 8.) Weak conflict.
Scenes fail for one root reason: the reader can't tell what's being fought for, right now, by whom. Every item on that list is really the same wound wearing different clothes. Name the goal, keep it singular, and let the protagonist actually want and act, and most of these problems dissolve on their own. Say your character enters a kitchen needing to convince her sister to lend her money. If she instead spends the scene washing dishes while thinking about the request, you've got a bystander with a muddled goal. Fix it by having her ask, get refused, and push back. The caution: don't turn every scene into a courtroom argument. Quiet scenes of waiting or noticing still work if tension underneath is clear. Clarity of intent matters more than constant collision.
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