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Martha Alderson

Plot Consultant

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Scene Organization

November 9, 2009 By Martha Alderson

Whether you like to work out the elements of your story on the page or are a pre-plotter, everyone benefits from a bit of periodic organization. 

See how many of the key scenes you can identify in the story you’re imagining, writing, or perfecting:

1) Set-up: The set-up you create in the Beginning makes the journey the protagonist undertakes in the Middle feel inevitable. 

2) Inciting Incident: A moment, conflict, dilemma, loss, fear, etc. that forces the protagonist to take immediate action.

3) End of the Beginning: The protagonist’s goal shifts or takes on greater meaning and turns the story in a new direction, launching the character into the actual story world itself.

4) Halfway Point: The moment the protagonist consciously makes a total commitment to achieving her goal and does something that signifies she has burned all bridges back and thus can only go forward. 

5) Crisis: The all-is-lost moment.

6) Climax: Just as it looks as if all is permanently lost for the protagonist, she saves the day.

For more on key scenes:

Beginning, Middle, End

Previous Post: « 5 Benefits of Writing a Truly Awful, Lousy 1st Draft
Next Post: Slogging through the 1st Draft »

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Martha lives at the beach along the central coast of California and draws inspiration from the surrounding nature. When not at the beach, she writes women’s fiction and is exploring what it means to leave a lasting legacy. [Read More] about About Martha

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