Workshop: From Questions to Story – Building a Narrative Scene by Scene
- rileytommy10
- Aug 15
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 15
By Tom Riley
Introduction: The Power of the Scene
If you can write a great scene, you can write a great book. A story is not built all at once—it’s assembled moment by moment, scene by scene, each one acting as a building block that adds depth, movement, and emotion.
At its core, every compelling story is powered by a simple truth:
A character wants something, and something stands in their way.
That “something” doesn’t have to be a locked door or a pursuing enemy. Sometimes it’s self-doubt. Sometimes it’s a moral dilemma. Sometimes it’s a relationship they’re terrified of losing. Obstacles can be emotional, psychological, societal, or physical—but they must be significant enough to matter deeply to the character. Without that meaningful friction, the story loses its heartbeat.
Storytelling, at its most powerful, is never just about what happens. It’s about what your characters choose to do when they’re confronted with challenges. Readers come for the events, but they stay for the human experience woven into those events—the choices made, the risks taken, the mistakes endured, and the ways characters transform along the way.
We all have a natural storyteller inside us. You’ve probably caught yourself replaying moments from your own life, wondering what if you had taken a different path. You’ve likely imagined the lives of people you once knew but lost touch with. You may have watched a movie and guessed the ending before it arrived—or quietly thought of a more satisfying twist.
Those same instincts are the raw materials of fiction writing. When you tap into that curiosity and apply it to your characters, you start to see them as living, breathing people. You begin asking questions about their lives, just as you would about a real person: What do they want? Why can’t they get it? What will they do about it? And in answering those questions, you naturally create tension, drama, and emotional resonance.
This is why scenes matter so much. A scene is more than a placeholder in a plot—it’s a self-contained story within your larger story, with its own beginning, middle, and end. In each one, your character is pursuing something—whether it’s love, safety, revenge, truth, or even just a moment of peace—and encountering something that stands in the way.
The good news? You don’t have to write the whole novel at once. If you focus on building each scene with clarity, purpose, and emotional weight, the larger story will naturally take shape. By approaching storytelling as a process of questions and choices, you can move step-by-step from a single spark of an idea to a completed, satisfying narrative—one scene at a time.
1. Life as Story Fuel
Stories don’t just come from imagination—they come from attention. The raw material of fiction is all around you, hiding in overlooked moments and ordinary days.
The overheard conversation in a coffee shop. The tense silence at a family dinner. The stranger on the bus who won’t stop glancing at the exit. These fragments of real life are seeds—tiny story prompts waiting to grow.
Every writer has a private collection of these moments, even if they’ve never written them down. Maybe it’s a single expression on someone’s face you can’t forget. Maybe it’s the way the air felt before a storm when you were twelve. Maybe it’s the one question you never got to ask someone before they left your life.
When you learn to see the world as a writer, you stop passing over these details. You start catching them like fireflies and putting them in a jar—knowing you can always return to them later when you need a spark for a scene.
Using life as story fuel isn’t about copying events exactly as they happened. It’s about distilling the emotion, the tension, the sensory memory, and then reshaping it to fit the needs of your fictional world. The raw truth of a moment—whether it’s joy, regret, fear, or longing—is what makes a scene resonate.
If you treat the world as a constant source of story fuel, you’ll never run out of inspiration. You’ll simply keep drawing from a deeper and deeper well.
2. The Core Equation of Every Story
At the heart of any strong scene or plot lies this equation:
Character + Goal + Obstacle = Story
The Goal – What does your character want right now?
The Obstacle – What stands in their way—external, internal, or both?
The Action – What steps will they take to overcome it?
The Outcome – Will they succeed, fail, or discover something unexpected?
Every scene you write should contain all four elements in some form. This structure ensures your story stays focused, emotionally engaging, and forward moving.
3. The Six Guiding Questions
When building your story scene by scene, ask yourself these six questions every time:
Who is it about? Clearly identify your main character in this moment.
What do they want? Make the goal specific, tangible, and emotionally significant.
Why can’t they get it? Identify the obstacle, whether internal or external.
What do they do about it? Show active choices and responses, not passive reactions.
Why doesn’t it work? Build tension through setbacks, failures, or surprises.
When and how does it end? Decide whether the scene closes with success, failure, or an unexpected shift in direction.
These questions not only shape your plot but also deepen your character’s arc. The answers create the beats of the scene and form a natural chain that pulls the reader through your narrative.
4. Inhabiting Your Characters
Asking these questions is not just about structure—it’s about stepping inside your characters.
You learn their core values and how those values influence their decisions.
You empathize with their struggles, even if you’ve never lived their life.
You infuse their choices with your own emotional truths, making them feel authentic to readers.
By writing from the inside out, you ensure that every action and reaction comes from character motivation—not mechanical plotting.
5. The Scene as a Micro-Story
Every scene should function as a mini story:
Beginning – Establish the goal and stakes.
Middle – Escalate obstacles and tension.
End – Deliver change, revelation, or a decision that sets the next scene in motion.
When you approach each scene as a complete arc, your book will feel cohesive and purposeful.
6. Scene-by-Scene Building
Writing a novel can be overwhelming if you think of it all at once. Instead:
Focus on writing one scene at a time.
Apply the Six Guiding Questions to that moment.
Ensure it has movement, tension, and change before moving on.
Once complete, repeat the process for the next scene. This method builds momentum while preventing your plot from stalling.
7. Developing Your Unique Writing Process
There’s no single “right” way to write a book—only the process that works for you.
Experiment – Try different writing routines, scene outlines, or discovery writing. Pay Attention – Notice which methods spark your creativity and help you finish scenes. Adjust – Keep refining until your process is both productive and enjoyable.
A good process does one thing well: it gets ideas out of your head and onto the page.
8. The Expansion Method
One of the most reliable ways to grow a small idea into a full scene is through this cycle:
Ask → Write → Expand
Ask – Pose a key story question (Who? What? Why? Where? How?).
Write – Answer in one or two sentences.
Expand – Layer in sensory details, actions, dialogue, and emotion.
Repeat this until your scene reaches its natural arc. Then move to the next.
9. Workshop Exercises
Exercise 1 – The Six Questions Drill Pick a character and a current situation. Answer the Six Guiding Questions in writing. Use the answers to outline a complete scene.
Exercise 2 – From Spark to Scene Write a one-sentence idea for a moment in your story. Expand it into a 500–800 word scene using the Expansion Method.
Exercise 3 – Obstacle Brainstorm List five obstacles for your character—mixing physical, emotional, and societal challenges. Choose one and write a scene showing their attempt (and failure) to overcome it.
Exercise 4 – Inhabiting the Role Write a monologue from your character’s perspective about what they want most right now and why they can’t have it.
Writer’s Takeaways
Every scene is driven by desire + obstacle.
The Six Guiding Questions are the fastest route from idea to finished scene.
Your own curiosity and lived experiences are powerful storytelling tools.
Treat every scene as a micro-story with a beginning, middle, and end.
Develop a process you love—because the best process is the one you’ll actually finish.
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