In a Fix: Scene Structure Drill
Practicing writing a scene in three beats: goal, obstacle, shift.
Onyinye Obiorah
1/1/20261 min read


David crept in the direction of the manager’s office. Everyone had closed for the day. Pretending he had forgotten his phone, he seized the opportunity to retrieve his file. He had made a terrible blunder on his report, and he would never be able to save face should anyone find out about it, so he planned to retrieve the file and make the needed corrections before replacing it; that way, he could skip the censure and possible query. Taking a quick look behind him, he pushed the door wide open. To his surprise, he caught the security guard stashing money from the safe into his pockets. Determined to sound the alarm, he opened his mouth wide, but just then he realized he wasn’t supposed to be there himself. The security guard, a fox, grinned at him, already conceiving a scheme.
