The Five Ws

Although every writer has their own approach to writing scenes, there are definitely things that almost any writer will find helpful to consider. Whenever I write a scene, there are at least five things I like to think about. I might not end up focusing on all of them (or even mentioning all of them), but they do help guide my thinking.

Who is involved in the scene? What is everyone in the scene doing? Where is the scene taking place? Why is this scene being included? When does the scene occur in the story?

Depending on the kind of story you’re writing,...