Scene & Structure

1. Fiction Structure: Dynamic, Logical, and Essential

Structure is nothing more than a way of looking at your story material so that it's organized in a way that's both logical and dramatic.

Beyond formula. Many writers blanch at "structure," fearing it implies rigid formulas. However, a deep understanding of classic structural patterns actually liberates the writer, allowing them to focus imagination on characters and events rather than worrying about transitions or flashbacks. Structure is a dynamic process, not a static format, ensuring the story "holds together" and makes sense for both writer and reader.

Internal vs. external. The structure of a story is internal, akin to the 2x4s and braces within a house, providing foundational support. In contrast, the form of a story is external, like whether a house is colonial or contemporary. While interrelated, structure provides the unchanging principles and creative laws that underpin most forms, from short stories to novels, allowing for consistent storytelling basics regardless of length.

Modern evolution. Early English novels, influenced by epic poems, began with simple forms like personal letters or diary entries, which told stories after events. Over time, novelists like Charles Dickens developed the modern scene-based structure, presenting events as if they were unfolding "here-and-now" for the reader. Today, over 95% of popular fiction relies on this scene structure, linking them in a clear, linear development from an initial story question to its climax.

2. The Story's Core: Change, Self-Concept, and the Story Question

For maximum effectiveness, you should start your story at the time of the change that threatens your major character's self-concept.

Reader's impatience. Modern readers, accustomed to fast-paced media, demand condensation and punch. This means starting your story as late as possible in the character's imagined chronology, focusing on a brief, dramatic core period. You must select only the most impactful events, rather than detailing an entire life, to maintain reader engagement.

Threatening change. Readers are inherently fascinated and threatened by significant change, both in real life and in fiction. A story should begin with an event that profoundly threatens the main character's self-concept – their core identity. This external change throws them "out of kilter," compelling them to take action to regain equilibrium. Examples include:

• A sudden inheritance (The Winter of Our Discontent)
• A burglar alarm tripped by a desperate visitor (The Dreadful Lemon Sky)
• A tornado (Twister)

Goal and question. Following this concept-threatening change, the character forms a vital intention or "story goal" to "fix things." The reader instinctively translates this goal into a "story question" (e.g., "Will she learn the new computer system?"). The story then ends by answering this specific question at its climax, providing a fitting resolution that may or may not be happy, but must be relevant to the initial goal.

3. Microcosm of Plot: The Power of Cause and Effect

In fiction, effects (plot developments) must have causes (background), and vice versa.

Credibility in fiction. Unlike real life, where coincidence and random events often occur, popular fiction demands a higher degree of credibility. Every plot development (effect) must have a logical preceding reason (cause). This cause-and-effect chain helps readers suspend disbelief and makes the story feel sensible, implying that life can have meaning and effort can pay off.

Stimulus and response. At a minute level, cause and effect manifest as stimulus and response (S&R). These are immediate, external actions or dialogue (stimulus) followed by immediate, external reactions (response). For every stimulus, there must be a response, and vice versa. If a response seems illogical, an "internalization" (the character's thoughts/feelings) must be inserted between the stimulus and response to explain it, following the pattern: Stimulus → Internalization → Response.

Avoiding S&R errors. Common S&R pitfalls include showing a stimulus without a clear external response, presenting a response without an evident stimulus, or placing too much time between the stimulus and response. These errors break credibility. For instance, if Joe throws a ball, Sam must visibly catch or drop it before speaking. Correcting these small logical gaps ensures the story flows naturally and maintains reader engagement.

4. The Scene: Dynamic Conflict Leading to Disaster

The scene is the basic large building block of the structure of any long story.

Scene's internal pattern. A scene is a segment of story action, presented moment-by-moment "onstage," without summary. Its fundamental pattern is:

• Statement of goal: The viewpoint character enters with a clear, specific, immediately attainable goal, a step towards their major story goal.
• Introduction and development of conflict: This forms 95-98% of the scene, a dynamic struggle between the viewpoint character and an antagonist, driven by stimulus and response.
• Failure of the character to reach his goal, a tactical disaster: The scene must end badly for the viewpoint character, thwarting their immediate goal.

Avoiding circularity. Conflict is essential, but it must be dynamic, not static or circular like a childish argument. Characters must constantly shift tactics, introduce new arguments, and escalate their efforts. This moment-by-moment progression, governed by stimulus and response, keeps the reader enthralled and prevents the story from bogging down.

The "disaster" imperative. A scene must end with a "disaster" – a setback that leaves the character in worse shape than when they entered. This isn't necessarily a cataclysmic event, but an unanticipated yet logical development that answers the scene question negatively. Disaster types include a simple "No!", a "Yes, but!" (e.g., loan with unacceptable terms), or a "No, and furthermore!" (e.g., loan denied and existing loan called in). This heightens tension, builds reader sympathy, and propels the story forward.

5. The Sequel: Bridging Scenes with Emotion, Thought, and Decision

A sequel begins for your viewpoint character the moment a scene ends.

The glue between scenes. While scenes are fast-paced and action-oriented, sequels provide the necessary "breathing room" for character development and plot progression. A sequel is a flexible structural component that links scenes, allowing for in-depth characterization, analysis of motivation, explanation of planning, and the introduction of backstory. Unlike scenes, sequels can be wholly internal, involve summary, and span significant chunks of time or space.

Sequel's four stages. The prototypical sequel follows a natural human reaction to a setback:

• Emotion: The character's immediate, often chaotic, feelings (anger, fear, shock) in response to the scene's disaster. This can be shown through description, illustrative actions, or dialogue with another character.
• Thought: The character moves from raw emotion to rational processing, involving:
  • Review: Recalling the recent disaster and its implications.
  • Analysis: Figuring out the meaning of events.
  • Planning: Laying out a new strategy to move forward.
• Decision: A specific, new, short-term, goal-oriented choice for action, offering a new ray of hope.
• Action: The character takes the first step towards this new goal, leading directly into the next scene.

Flexibility and variations. The length and emphasis of each sequel component are highly flexible, depending on the story, character, and severity of the disaster. While the sequence (Emotion → Thought → Decision → Action) is ideal, sequels can be collapsed into a few sentences for speed, or even skipped entirely if immediate action is paramount. Conversely, they can be greatly expanded to deepen characterization or review complex plot points, sometimes even incorporating "flashback scenes" within the thought segment.

6. Controlling Narrative Pace with Scenes and Sequels

Scenes are exciting, conflictful, densely packed with action and dialogue, and therefore fast-reading. Sequels, on the other hand, are thoughtful, can be extended, have summary in them, and are therefore slow-reading.

Pacing is paramount. The balance between fast-reading scenes and slow-reading sequels is a powerful tool for controlling a novel's pace. If the story feels too slow, increase scenes and trim sequels. If it's too fast, expand sequels and shorten or soften scenes. This dynamic interplay allows the author to manipulate reader experience at every turn.

Speeding up the narrative:

• Butt scenes: Remove sequels entirely, linking scenes directly if logical.
• Simple transitions: Use brief phrases like "Three hours later..." instead of developed sequels.
• Trim sequels: Cut unnecessary emotional descriptions or extensive reviews.
• Intensify scenes: Raise stakes, increase conflict, or add new issues to existing scenes.
• Immediate disasters: Design scene endings that demand instant new action, leaving no time for lengthy sequels.

Slowing down the narrative:

• Cut weak scenes: Eliminate minor scenes, summarizing their action within a later sequel.
• Enter scenes mid-conflict: Start a scene already underway, implying earlier, less crucial conflict.
• Extended internalizations: Allow viewpoint characters to have longer internal thoughts during scenes, pausing the external action.
• Expand sequels: Deepen emotional reactions, broaden character reviews, or explore more options in the planning stage.
• Delayed action: Design disasters that don't require immediate new action, giving characters more time for reflection and planning in sequels.

7. Avoiding Common Scene Errors for Credible Storytelling

One of your most important jobs, during manuscript revision, should be to examine each and every scene-ending disaster to make sure that it not only grows out of the conflict, but that it isn't a one-in-a-million bit of bad luck, or something that no one in his right mind would ever believe could actually happen.

Common pitfalls. Even with a grasp of scene structure, writers can fall into traps that undermine credibility and reader engagement. Recognizing these errors is the first step to fixing them, ensuring scenes remain dynamic and believable.

Key errors and their fixes:

• Too many people: Limit conflict to two main characters (mano a mano) to maintain focus.
• Circularity of argument: Develop a game plan for each opponent, introduce new angles, and have the protagonist reiterate their goal to keep the conflict moving forward.
• Unwanted interruptions: Eliminate "fateful" phone calls or knocks unless they serve a direct, dramatic role in advancing the conflict.
• Getting off the track: Clearly state the scene goal and have the protagonist (and antagonist) periodically restate it to ensure the conflict remains focused on the central issue.
• Inadvertent summary: Avoid phrases like "later" or "after a few minutes" within a scene; instead, fill the time with moment-by-moment action or internal thought.
• Loss of viewpoint: Maintain a single viewpoint character per scene, providing occasional internalizations and using viewpoint identifiers ("he saw," "she heard") to keep the reader grounded.
• Forgotten scene goal: Ensure the scene's disaster directly and logically answers the initial scene question, rather than introducing an irrelevant setback.
• Unmotivated opposition/Illogical disagreement: Give antagonists clear, believable motivations for their opposition and ensure their arguments stem logically from these motives.
• Unfair odds: Make antagonists formidable but not omnipotent, so the hero's struggle remains credible.
• Overblown internalizations: Keep internal thoughts brief and focused, avoiding lengthy, abstract passages that slow the action.
• Not enough at stake: Ensure the scene goal is genuinely important to both the viewpoint character and the opposition to generate meaningful conflict.
• Inadvertent red herrings: Be cautious about planting false clues or irrelevant details that mislead the reader about future plot developments.
• Phony, contrived disasters: Disasters must be logical but unanticipated, growing organically from the conflict, not appearing as random bad luck.

8. Plotting: Interlinking Scenes and Sequels for Rising Action

A plot with scenes arranged in the most dramatic order will work in one of the following ways: The scenes will move the viewpoint character farther and farther away from any quick shortcut to the original goal.

The essence of plot. Plot is essentially a long series of interlinked scenes and sequels, driven by cause and effect. Effective plotting ensures a framework for suspense, character development through struggle, and inexorable forward movement that sweeps the reader along. Good structure is the key to getting every other aspect of fiction right.

Achieving rising action. Rising action, where tension and involvement intensify with each development, is crucial. This is achieved by:

• Tightening the noose: Each scene disaster puts the viewpoint character deeper into trouble or seemingly farther from their story goal, intensifying their desperation and the reader's worry.
• Character identification: Establishing a clear viewpoint, making the character's goal vitally important, and ensuring the reader can sympathize with that goal.

Dramatic plot arrangements:

• Backward development: Scenes move the character further from a quick path to their goal, forcing them through detours and increasing frustration (e.g., the old woman and the pig).
• Piling on woes: Disasters introduce new, more pressing problems that may not be directly related to the original goal, but must be overcome first (e.g., Travis McGee's side quests).
• Short-term quests: The hero undertakes entirely unrelated, shorter-term goals to clear the path for an eventual return to the main storyline.
• Dwindling options: The character's choices for achieving their goal progressively narrow, increasing desperation.
• Revealing complications: Previously hidden plot elements or terrible developments are unveiled, making the situation more complex.

9. The Hidden Story and Weaving Subplots

The hidden story also takes place during the present time of the story action. But it is composed of things that happen to, or are done by, characters outside of the viewpoint character's knowledge.

Three narrative layers. Every narrative comprises three parts:

• Backstory: Everything that happened before page one, providing crucial context and motivation.
• Present story: The events unfolding "now" within the book's pages.
• Hidden story: Offstage events, unknown to the viewpoint character, but carefully planned by the author to influence the present story. This requires imagining scenes and sequels for characters "backstage," ensuring logical timing and motivation (e.g., a villain planning to drop a flowerpot).

Integrating subplots. When using multiple viewpoints, each character should have their own plot or subplot. This adds "plates" to the juggling act, increasing reader tension. Key principles for weaving subplots:

• Single viewpoint per segment: Maintain focus within each scene or sequel.
• Dominant viewpoint: One character's perspective should clearly lead the narrative (e.g., 70% main hero, 20% secondary, 10% tertiary).
• Distinct characters: Ensure different viewpoints offer unique opinions and reactions to avoid blurring.
• Strategic viewpoint changes: Switch viewpoints primarily to heighten curiosity and suspense, ideally after a scene disaster or during a sequel's thought/decision phase.
• Structural integrity: When returning to a viewpoint, pick up exactly where it left off structurally (e.g., if left at disaster, return to emotion of sequel), regardless of time or space elapsed.

10. Chapter Structure: Ending with a Hook

Regardless of how long or short your chapters may be, always end them at a point where the reader can't put the book down.

Artificial divisions. Chapter divisions are an artificial convention, but they serve a crucial purpose: to manage reader engagement. The primary goal of chapter construction is to prevent the reader from putting the book down. Therefore, chapters must end with a compelling hook that compels the reader to continue.

Strategic chapter endings:

• Scene-ending disaster: The most powerful hook. Ending a chapter immediately after a disaster forces the reader to turn the page to see the character's reaction and next move.
• Middle of conflict: Breaking a chapter mid-fight, just as tension escalates, leaves the reader eager for the continuation.
• Sequel's thought process: Ending with the character deeply immersed in thought, grappling with a problem and seeing no immediate solution, creates suspense.
• Decision point/start of new action: Concluding as the character makes a new goal-oriented decision or begins a new action, before the next conflict, builds anticipation.

Avoid weak endings. Never end a chapter with a character simply going to sleep or for author convenience in handling transitions. Such "nighty-night" endings or awkward breaks scream at the reader to "Stop here and put it down!" Chapters should always link forward, maintaining momentum and reader fascination, regardless of their individual length or symmetry.

11. The Master Plot: A Strategic Blueprint for Suspense

Your master plot is your game plan, your general idea of how you're going to put it all together for maximum effectiveness.

Beyond the basics. While understanding scenes and sequels provides the building blocks, a "master plot" is the strategic game plan for arranging these components into a cohesive, suspenseful narrative. It's a flexible blueprint, not a rigid formula, guiding the author on the kind of dramatic "moves" to make at various points in the novel to keep the reader hooked.

Juggling "plates" of worry. A novel, especially a suspense novel, thrives on increasing reader worry. This is achieved by:

• New twists: Each scene disaster introduces new complications, adding "plates" of worry to the narrative.
• Subplots: Introducing secondary characters with their own problems and goals creates additional story lines, further increasing the number of "plates" the reader cares about.
• Rising action: The master plot ensures that tension and stakes escalate throughout the story, leading to a powerful climax.

A sample suspense blueprint (general flow):

• Prologue (Optional): Establishes immediate threat, often from a non-main character viewpoint, with an unclear connection to the main story.
• Early Chapters (1-3): Introduce the hero and their major goal-threatening change, establish the villain and their initial plans, and bring in supporting characters with their own minor subplots.
• Mid-Novel (4-14): This often includes a "mini-novel" or story-within-a-story, a fast-paced sequence of events designed to re-energize the narrative. It involves escalating stakes, new "shocker questions," and the hero facing increasingly dire situations, often with ticking clocks. Viewpoints may shift to secondary characters, tantalizing the reader about the hero's plight.
• Climax (15-18): All plot threads converge. Red herrings are cleared, subplots conclude, and the hero and villain move towards their ultimate confrontation. Backstory and hidden story elements are revealed, leading to the hero's ultimate disaster.
• Resolution (19-20): The hero faces a moral dilemma, makes a sacrificial choice, and engages in the final, most intense struggle, ultimately winning (often for the first time). Loose ends are tied up, secondary characters find closure, and the romantic subplot is resolved, leaving the reader with a fitting, though not necessarily perfectly happy, sense of completion.

Last updated: December 16, 2025