Writing is hard. Writing a scene that actively engages your reader is even harder. Whether you're a novice author just starting out or a seasoned writer aiming to refine your craft, understanding the nuances of storytelling can make all the difference. Here are our five key pieces of advice when crafting your scene.
Ensuring Tension in Your Scenes
Tension is the lifeblood of storytelling. Without it, even the most well-crafted characters and intricate plots will fall flat. Tension keeps readers invested and eager to turn the page, wondering what will happen next. Whether it's external conflict (like a battle, a confrontation, or a race against time) or internal conflict (emotional struggles, moral dilemmas, or personal challenges), tension should be present in every scene. It can even be something minor, as long as it's entertaining to the reader and contributes to the overall progress of the plot (does anyone else remember the fly episode of Breaking Bad?).
How to Build Tension
Introduce stakes early: From the moment a scene begins, let the reader know what's at risk. Even in quieter moments, the sense of what's to lose will heighten emotional engagement.
Create obstacles: Every goal your character pursues should be met with challenges. If things are too easy, tension evaporates. A character who faces opposition-whether from external forces or from within-will generate much-needed conflict.
Use pacing effectively: Tension thrives on pacing. Short, snappy sentences during high-action moments can accelerate the urgency, while slower, more deliberate prose can build suspense in quieter moments. Play with the rhythm of your writing to reflect the emotional tone of your scenes.
Set up and payoff: Tension often works in cycles-set up a conflict or mystery, allow it to simmer, and then provide a payoff. This keeps the reader's interest piqued, knowing that each moment could be leading to a crucial turning point.
By weaving tension into each scene, you invite your readers to engage more deeply with your story, ensuring that they stay emotionally invested from start to finish.
Ensuring Your Characters Remain Proactive in Their Scenes
One of the most common pitfalls in writing is creating characters who passively react to events rather than actively driving the plot forward. A passive character is one who simply reacts to the world around them, rather than taking meaningful action to shape their destiny. This can make the story feel stagnant and uninspired.
How to Keep Characters Proactive
Define clear goals: Make sure each character has something they want or need. It could be a tangible goal (like finding a hidden treasure) or an emotional one (such as seeking redemption). The key is that your characters should be motivated to achieve these goals at all costs. Every character, no matter how minor, should have some sort of goal they're trying to achieve in any scene they're involved in, no matter how small that goal may be.
Make them take action: Your characters should not wait for things to happen to them. Instead, they should pursue their goals actively, even if it means making mistakes or facing obstacles along the way. Action creates movement in your story and keeps readers engaged.
Let them make decisions: Every choice your character makes should have consequences. These choices should be informed by their personality, background, and desires. Don't have them act in a way that feels contrived just to move the plot forward. Instead, let their decisions come naturally, based on who they are as people.
Avoid "reactive" characters: Characters who constantly react to events (without making choices or taking action) will feel passive. A character who only reacts to others' actions or is always in a state of waiting will often leave readers feeling bored and detached from the story. If all they're doing is reacting then they're not characters, they're background settings. No one wants to read a novel about background settings.
By keeping your characters proactive, you not only make them more engaging but also ensure that your plot remains dynamic and forward-moving. Readers want to follow characters who are active participants in their own stories, not bystanders.
Each Chapter Must Contain Conflict
At the heart of every well-constructed story is conflict. A story without conflict is like a car without fuel-it might have potential, but it won't get anywhere. Each chapter of your story should contain a form of conflict. It could be an emotional struggle, a moral dilemma, or an interpersonal issue. The key is that each chapter moves the story forward by driving the conflict towards a resolution. Each sub-conflict builds toward the primary conflict, either advancing it, increasing it, or building to it's conclusion.
How to Structure Conflict in Each Chapter
Identify the conflict: Every chapter should begin with some form of conflict that the protagonist must confront. This conflict should be related to the overall narrative arc but can also introduce smaller, subplot conflicts.
Escalate the stakes: As each chapter progresses, the stakes of the conflict should become higher, and the challenges should become more difficult for the characters to overcome. This creates a sense of progression and keeps the reader engaged.
Introduce obstacles: Even when your characters think they are close to resolving a problem, introduce new obstacles or complications to prevent the resolution from being too easy. This ensures the conflict remains dynamic.
Cliffhangers or unresolved questions: End chapters on a note that leaves readers wanting more. It could be a cliffhanger or an unresolved issue that forces the reader to continue to the next chapter. The desire to resolve conflict is a powerful tool for maintaining reader engagement.
By structuring your story so that each chapter contains some form of conflict, you not only keep the momentum of your plot moving forward, but you also create opportunities for deeper character development and thematic exploration.
Proper Insight: Characters Should Know and Interpret Things in Line with Their Personalities and Backgrounds
One of the most important aspects of writing convincing characters is ensuring that they have the proper insight into the world around them. The way a character perceives events, interacts with others, and makes decisions should be deeply informed by their personality, background, and experiences.
How to Use Insight Effectively
Know your character's backstory: Every character comes with a set of experiences that shape how they see the world. A person who grew up in an abusive household will interpret actions and words differently than someone who was raised in a loving, stable environment. A character's past will affect how they react to current situations and other characters.
Avoid making characters too omniscient: No one knows everything, so don't have your characters understand things they couldn't possibly know, just because it's convenient for the plot. Characters should be limited by their own knowledge and perspective. When writing in first-person or limited third-person, this can be especially important, as readers will only know what the character knows and interprets.
Ensure consistent characterization: Characters should interpret the same events differently based on their personalities. A confident, extroverted character might see an awkward social situation as an opportunity to break the ice, while a more introverted character might see it as a moment to retreat. Ensure that your characters' reactions are true to who they are.
Use insight for conflict: Sometimes, a character's lack of insight can be the source of conflict. Maybe a character misreads a situation or misunderstands another character's motives. These misunderstandings can drive both internal and external conflict, and they help keep the story interesting.
By making sure that characters' insights and perceptions are consistent with their experiences and personalities, you'll create a world that feels more real and immersive. Readers will connect with your characters and understand why they make the choices they do.
Tackling Writer's Block: Write Through It
OK, while this one admittedly isn't a direct tip for writing a compelling scene, we're more than confident in saying that at some point or another you'll be faced with writer's block, so why not include it? After all, you can't craft your chapter if you're stuck staring at a blank page, rejecting one idea after another.
As repetitive as it is, the best cure for writer's block really is just to write. But there's a way to go about it strategically in order to minimize the frustration and heartache (yes, we get emotional over our writing too. Go ahead and sob into your tissues right along with us!).
How to Write Through Writer's Block
Write the scene anyway: One of the most effective ways to combat writer's block is to simply write the scene as you think it should play out. Don't worry about getting it perfect-just get the words on the page. This way you can begin to shape an outline of a better scene, one that you can work on and configure to a better state.
Don't aim for perfection on the first draft: The beauty of writing is in the editing process. If you're stuck, don't put unnecessary pressure on yourself to write brilliantly. Instead, focus on getting something down, and then you can refine it later.
Revisit and revise: Once you've written through the block, go back and read the scene. What works? What doesn't? You might find that the initial draft needs a lot of revision, but that's okay-revising is a natural part of the writing process. Rewrite sections, add details, adjust dialogue, and refine your characters' actions until the scene feels right.
Don't write: We know, we know! It sounds counter-productive, but if you're really struggling to get something out - we're talking you've managed to write seven words and five of them were what you plan on ordering for lunch - then put the keyboard, pen, stylus, or rock and chisel down and do something else. We find going for a walk or exercising while casually thinking about our story to be the best cure for finding a spark that allows us to carry on to the next scene. Think of it like cooling down an overheating engine. Sometimes we just need a break!
The key to overcoming writer's block is persistence. Trust that your first draft is just that-a draft. It doesn't need to be perfect; it just needs to exist.
Writing is a process of constant learning and growth. By focusing on tension, proactivity, conflict, character insight, and overcoming writer's block, you'll improve not only the technical aspects of your writing but also your ability to engage readers on a deeper level. Remember, writing is as much about perseverance as it is about creativity.
Join the community!
If you found these tips helpful, be sure to follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram for more writing advice, updates, and inspiration. We'd also love to see what you're working on! If you're ready to share your writing, submit your pieces for a chance to be featured on our website. Happy writing!