Writing in Scenes: Bringing Your Story to Life

Strong scenes are what transform ideas into story. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, scenes give shape, energy, and depth to your narrative. In this class, we’ll study what makes a scene come alive—moment-to-moment movement, sensory detail, tension, and character motivation. You’ll learn how to identify when to zoom in or summarize, and how to link scenes through transitions and emotional arcs. Each week includes instruction, generative writing, and group discussion to help you apply new techniques directly to your work-in-progress. By the end of the course, you’ll leave with several fully developed scenes and the confidence to bring your story to life on the page.

Class Goals:

● Understand the role of scenes in narrative structure
● Practice writing with purpose, tension, and movement
● Strengthen sensory detail and character motivation
● Apply feedback to revise or expand existing work

Weekly Outline:

● Week 1: What makes a scene? Purpose, stakes, and pacing
● Week 2: Building emotion and tension through action and dialogue
● Week 3: Setting and sensory detail as anchors for scenes
● Week 4: Linking scenes

Access Program
We want our writing classes and seminars to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and seminar tuitions at a reduced rate. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.

Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org if you have questions.

Liaison position
Every in-person class and seminar at Literary Arts has one liaison position. Liaisons perform specific duties for each class meeting. If you are a liaison for a class or seminar, the full amount of your tuition is covered by Literary Arts.

Apply here for the liaison position.