Write a single scene in which something has changed by the end

A scene can be vivid and still do nothing for the reader. Everything reads smoothly, but as soon as the scene ends, nothing has actually changed. In that case, you may have a well-written passage, but not a scene that drives the story forward.

You probably already know that a character has to want something. Give them a goal, put an obstacle in their way, and then let something happen. But whatever happens then has to create some kind of resistance, and in your scene, that resistance has to actually affect what your character does next.

Example: An employee asks his manager for a day off and doesn’t get it. If the rest of the conversation only repeats why that day matters so much to him, nothing actually happens. But what if he tries something else? Does the original goal (the day off) still turn out to be impossible, or does the relationship between the employee and his manager change?

In the exercise below, you write a scene with one goal, one opposing force, and one turn. The words can be beautiful, but that’s not what this exercise is about.

Read the assignment first. Then you can submit your own scene at the bottom of the page for feedback on the four criteria. You don’t need an account.

Intermediate exercise: When your character’s first attempt doesn’t work

Write a scene in which one character tries to get something concrete from another: a key, a signature, permission, or an object. The other character or the situation works against them. Have the main character change tactics at least once because the first attempt doesn’t work. By the end, the character’s position has clearly changed from where it started: the goal has been reached at a price, has moved permanently out of reach, or has been replaced by a more urgent problem. Stay in one place and one continuous moment. Don’t summarize the difficult parts; let the decisive actions and words happen in the scene.

• Length: 350 words
• Time: 1 hour

Learning Objective

Practice writing a goal-driven scene in which resistance changes the character’s behavior and leaves the character in a visibly different position.

Criteria

• Goal: the reader can point to exactly what the main character is trying to achieve in this scene.
• Resistance: something or someone actually stands in the way of that goal, and that resistance has consequences.
• Turn: the main character adjusts their approach and ends up in a different situation from the one they started in.
• Stands Alone: the scene can be followed without any earlier chapters and takes place in the here and now.

Now write a 350-word scene of your own in which your character wants to achieve something. They run into opposition, and that makes them change tactics. By the end, the situation has changed.

Paste your scene below and get feedback almost instantly on the goal, the resistance, the turn, and whether the scene stands alone. You don’t need an account.

Also check out the other writing exercises on ViaScripta.