How Scenes Should be Structured in a Story


Scenes are the building blocks of stories. How scenes are structured is very important in keeping the story moving forward and maintaining a reader's interest. Per author and editor Troy Lambert, each scene in a story must have its own narrative arc meaning it must have a beginning, a middle, and an ending. You don't necessarily need to have a resolution at the end of each scene, he says, but you need to have a cliffhanger and smooth transition to the next scene to keep the reader engaged scene to scene. Lambert recommends writers think of each scene as a "mini story within your story".

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  • Is it OK to have a cliffhanger  in a chapter , leaving jt unresolved  for a few chapters while building other senses to later on bringing  the events together

    • Yes, the middle part of your story should include rising action/conflict as you build toward your climactic scene. You want to keep the reader wondering "what happens next" at the end of each chapter so that they keep turning the pages. Your primary conflict shouldn't be resolved/concluded until the end of your book. You might find tomorrow's webinar on story structure helpful: https://www.authorlearningcenter.com/webinars/c/e/1999