How do you actually write strong scenes? Sure, something needs to happen, but can we be more specific? What is the shape of the thing that needs to happen?
Enjoying stories is intuitive, but writing strong stories isn’t. Sometimes, you need to consciously analyze a thing to figure out what’s happening first. Often, it’s only through interrogation, analysis, and practice that an art form becomes intuitive.
This post is for anyone who would like some guidance on figuring out the mechanics of strong scene structure. You can use it to hone your outlining, writing, and editing skills.
As with any literary theory, it’s meant to be an empowering tool, not a limiting box. So, I invite you to use it with a critical eye and a flexible hand. Figure out what makes your favourite stories tick and your own fingers dance in rhythm.
If you’d like some help figuring out those first steps, you’re in the right place.
Scene Structure Overview
Just as novels have a three-part structure, individual scenes also have three parts of their own. Broadly speaking, the story’s beginning poses a question, the middle explores it, and the ending answers it.
Scene structure is similar: the beginning poses a question, the middle explores it, and the ending answers it. I’ll refer to these three umbrella elements as the scene’s “parts.” Each of these parts has three things they need to establish. I’ll refer to those nested elements as the scene’s “beats.”
Here’s an overview of a scene’s parts and their nested beats:
- Part I: The Beginning Question
- Beat I: The goal.
- Beat II: The obstacle.
- Beat III: The stakes.
- Part II: The Middle Exploration
- Beat I: The push. (The event that sets the action-reaction cycle in motion.)
- Beat II: Protagonist action.
- Beat III: External reaction.
- The Action-Reaction Cycle: Beats II and III repeat as needed.
- Part III: The Ending Answer
- Beat I: The turning point.
- Beat II: The outcome.
- Beat III: The cliffhanger.
With this overview in place, let’s now explore how each of these parts and beats work.
The Mechanics of Each Beat
The Beginning Question
The beginning of a scene needs to pose an engaging question. By posing this question, the author makes an implicit promise to the reader: if you keep reading this chapter, you will find out the answer. The question sparks the reader’s curiosity, and the promise of an answer motivates them to keep reading.
Usually, this question pits a goal against an immediate obstacle: “Will [protagonist] overcome [obstacle], achieve [plot-relevant goal], and keep [what’s at stake] safe?”
The Beginning Question’s Core Beats
So, here are the three components the beginning of each scene needs to establish:
- The Goal: What the protagonist wants to achieve.
- The Obstacle: What the protagonist will need to overcome to achieve their goal.
- The Stakes: What is at risk should the protagonist fail.
The Middle Exploration
The middle of the scene then needs to explore the question at hand.
First, an inciting incident happens that sets the scene’s action in motion. The inciting incident can happen as a result of either the protagonist’s actions or external forces.
Either way, this event then sets off a cycle of action and reaction. In response to the inciting incident, the protagonist needs to take action to pursue their goals. Those actions then result in external reactions. Then the protagonist responds to those external reactions, and the cycle continues.
External reactions can come in the form of positive progress, where an outside influence brings the protagonist closer to their goal. Reactions can also appear as negative conflict, where an antagonistic force works against the protagonist. Both positive and negative reactions can happen within a single scene.
It is this cycle of protagonist action à external reaction à protagonist action à external reaction (and so on) that creates a scene’s sense of exploration and progress.
Also, note that the word “action” here does not always mean “active.” Sometimes, the protagonist’s actions can be reactive or even passive. Your protagonist may choose “to silently watch” or “to ignore the problem.” Those are actions too. What matters is that these actions still progress the scene by bringing the protagonist closer to or further away from their goal.
The Middle Exploration’s Core Beats
- The Push: The event that sets the action-reaction cycle in motion.
- Action: What the protagonist does to pursue their goal.
- Reaction: What external forces do in response to the protagonist’s action.
- Repeat: This action-reaction cycle continues until a dynamic turning point occurs, utterly changing the situation.
The Ending Answer
The scene then needs to answer the question that the beginning promised to provide. This answer has three beats: the turning point, the outcome, and the cliffhanger.
The turning point is the dynamic change that happens as a result of the action-reaction cycle. Something significant has shifted, even if the ultimate result is not yet clear.
Next, the outcome is the ultimate impact that this change has on the characters and the larger story. Note that this progress can be positive or negative—the scene’s outcome can bring the protagonist closer to or further away from achieving their larger goal. Regardless of whether that progress is positive or negative, some larger progress needs to happen. Otherwise, the scene won’t feel relevant and engaging.
Note that sometimes the action-reaction cycle will continue for a few more rounds between the turning point and the climax. Other times, the turning point and outcome happen together, almost instantaneously. Either way, change arrives, and we see its outcome.
Finally, the scene needs to close with a new question that sparks the reader’s curiosity. That curiosity then motivates them to start the next chapter. In this way, every scene is a domino: one chapter’s outcome sets up the next chapter’s question.
In other words, each chapter sparks the reader’s curiosity, satisfies their curiosity, and then reignites their curiosity. This cycle of curiosity à satisfaction à curiosity is the force that fluidly propels readers through books. If readers say that a chapter is boring, it indicates that the scene has a roadblock that’s preventing the reader from experiencing this curiosity-satisfaction cycle.
Some Quick Notes on Cliffhangers
By the way, people usually refer to a scene’s new question as its cliffhanger. While cliffhangers are a helpful concept, that term emphasizes a dramatic threat to life as the main way to build suspense. Cliffhangers don’t always need to be that extreme and life-threatening to be engaging. They just need to pose a plot-relevant question that the reader is emotionally invested in.
This new question must also be something that a following scene will explore and answer. If this question goes unexplored, the reader will ultimately feel disappointed. It’s frustrating when someone sparks your curiosity and then refuses to satisfy it. When authors set up a question and then fail to answer it, they frustrate their readers’ sense of curiosity. Be kind to your readers and don’t do that to them.
Also, be aware that it’s possible for a chapter’s outcome and cliffhanger to happen simultaneously. For example, take a look at the last sentence of The Hunger Games, Chapter One, by Suzanne Collins. It’s only three words long: “It was Primrose.”
Those three words are enough to convey the scene’s outcome and cliffhanger. The outcome: Katniss’s sister, Primrose, is selected as District Twelve’s female tribute. The cliffhanger: Will Katniss be able to save her sister from the Hunger Games? Because of how Collins set up the scene, she was able to convey all that information in just three words.
Lastly, I’ll also point out that you don’t need to make this question explicit. Collins didn’t need to end the first chapter of The Hunger Games with Katniss literally asking herself, “Will I be able to save Primrose?” The implication alone was enough.
Likewise, you don’t need to end your chapters with a literal question. You just need to conclude with a note that implicitly establishes a question that a future scene will answer.
The Ending Answer’s Core Beats
- The Turning Point: The dynamic change that happens as a result of the action-reaction cycle.
- The Outcome: The ultimate impact of the turning point.
- The New Question: The new mystery that the tides of change have left in their wake. (In short, the cliffhanger.)
Building Your Muscle Memory
You now know the fundamental components of strong scene structure. The next step is to make this knowledge intuitive. To start, you can look for this structure in practice.
Pick up one of your favourite books. Find that scene you enjoy so much. Read it—slowly. Strong scenes make you want to read as quickly as possible—that’s your engaged curiosity at work. Slow yourself down and identify the scene’s three parts and nine beats. Then ask yourself:
- How does the scene establish the goal, obstacle, and stakes? How quickly do these three beats arrive?
- What event sets the scene’s action-reaction cycle in motion? How quickly does this push arrive?
- How many cycles of action and reaction does the middle go through? How fast are the transitions between action and reaction? How do these factors influence the scene’s pacing and intensity?
- When does the turning point arrive? How did the previous action-reaction cycle set up this turning point? What makes this turning point so satisfying?
- When and how does the scene establish the outcome? How has this outcome satisfied your curiosity?
- How long does the scene let you linger in satisfaction before introducing a new seed of curiosity? In other words, how long is the gap between the outcome and the cliffhanger?
- What question does the scene’s ending implicitly pose? How has the scene made you emotionally invested in this new question?
Also, if you ever come across a particularly boring scene, pay attention to that too. How does that scene’s structure play out? Do any of the beats arrive too late or happen too slowly? Are any beats missing? You can learn a lot from weak writing too.
Summing Up
Alright, you now have all the knowledge and tools you need to sharpen your scene structure skills! What did you find most helpful? Is there anything you think I’ve left out? You’re welcome to comment below and keep the conversation going.
0 Comments