8 Goals to Assign to Your Scenes

If you write like me, you probably have some scene ideas that make you laugh or excite you so much that you might have to write an entire story just to get the scenes out. Also, if you write like me, you probably end up shoe-horning that cool scene you can’t stop thinking about into whatever you write next, only to find out it is funny or exciting, but has no thematic relevance to the story. Well, first off, stop stealing my worst writing habits. Second off, we can fix this! 

When you craft a scene for your story, be it because you have a great character idea, scene idea, or literally just need a bridge scene to keep writing, you can create a simple list of goals that will guarantee you don’t technically “waste” a single scene. These are oversimplified concepts that have been used as a gauge for if a story is moving or not, and can be extremely helpful when rewriting as they are one of the only things it’s typically okay to “force” into a story. 

This list is not designed to be the definitive hack to story structure, as much as it operates as a simple list you can refer back to any time you hit a wall writing and want something to focus your next scene on. 

Main Character’s Goal 

What does your main character want? Even before the full scope of the plot is revealed or they’ve received their grand call to adventure, your character either wants something, or is built around the fact that they don’t. Anytime your main character is in a scene, you can ask yourself “does anything happen in this scene that gets my character closer or further to their current goal.” If the answer is no, then it might be worth revisiting and finding an angle be it major or minor, that moves them closer or further to what they want. 

Main Antagonist’s Goal 

Take the last paragraph and apply it to your main antagonist as well. Plus, keep in mind that these two’s scenes can directly affect one another even if they aren’t sharing a scene. Does your antagonist get closer or further from what they’re after? Do their actions somehow move the main character closer or further?

Motivate 

Slightly different from the characters’ goals are their motivations. Every character in a cursed kingdom probably wants to stop the evil sorcerer, but it’s our hero that is going to. Why? Just as important to establish as a protagonist's goal and an antagonist’s plan are their reasons for doing so. 

A simple yet effective scene goal can be to give your reader more context as to why these goals must be pursued. It can be something from the past, or you can craft a scene that motivates them in the moment. This is equally as important for side characters, as they will likely play a part in our hero’s journey, but they will get less time to learn and grow. Highlighting believable reasons they would jump in will make them much more acceptable to your reader. 

Does this Scene Advance the Plot? 

Let’s take the ideas I just presented and apply them to the story as a whole, and even to you as a storyteller. What is this story’s goal? What is your goal as its writer? Does this scene move the story closer or further from whatever the esoteric answer to that question is? Your story has limited space. It’s never a bad idea to stop and see the last time you tried to utilize the central theme or convey your message. 

Create or Expand Conflict 

Stories are built on conflict be it large or miniscule. If there is no conflict in a scene, internal or external, then you may be wasting vital time or missing a golden opportunity to make a character more multidimensional. When writing a scene, consider if there are new conflicts that could stem from any of the decisions in it, or consider if there is room to make a current conflict grow, change, or even resolve. 

Reveal Your Setting 

If you need a break from character, or just need to establish important context, consider also telling us something about the world this story takes place in. What kind of creatures inhabit it, or just what is this part of town like? You’ll want to find something we don’t know. There’s no use in having a scene to establish that we’re in a fantasy world we’ve never heard of, or in New York City, but it might be worth explaining that we are in the part of this land ruled by a specific king or in a neighborhood of New York that has a quirk or vibe.

Reveal a Secret 

All scenes are, in theory, offering new information, but is that information interesting or pertinent? If you feel that a scene needs a jolt or doesn’t move the plot enough, consider offering the reader a secret. Think of something you know about this story. Something you find exciting, and then share it. If you are excited about it, the hope is the reader will be too. The magic of this goal is that it can mean a character reveals a secret, but it doesn’t have to. There is nothing to stop you from revealing something happening in your writing and letting it stay a secret in the narrative. Suddenly you have given your reader a piece of suspense. 

Plant a Seed 

This goal is quite possibly the easiest to retrofit into a previously written scene. Readers love a callback or payoff, especially if they don’t see it coming, but remember the set-up once the reveal happens. A goal for a scene can be to lay some groundwork for a later story beat. Sneak in a small or large piece of the puzzle that won’t come back into play until much later. Turn a fun hangout scene that isn’t pushing any of these other goals into a sneaky foreshadowing moment by adding a spy watching from nearby, or hinting at a specific spell or item that the group doesn’t even have yet.

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