5 Ways to Keep the Story Moving Between the Big Moments

Many writers discover that connecting the plot points of a story is far harder than identifying them. It’s easy enough to name the big turning points on a beat sheet, but when you sit down to write the pages that bridge those landmarks, the story can feel as if it’s stalling in the middle. The real challenge (and the true power of story structure) lies in shaping the in-between sections so they carry momentum. If you want to know how to keep your story moving between the big moments, it helps to look at those stretches as purposeful sequences that grow out of one turning point and drive the story to the next.

This is exactly what one writer asked me specifically about, wondering how to handle all the “in-between moments” without the story lagging. Here’s Stephanie’s question:

I’ve loved all your books about outlining and story structure. I feel as if, thanks to you, I have a sound grasp on the major plot points and the concept of scene and sequel, but I would love your thoughts on effectively linking those major plot points. My stories seem to have a lag in development between the major events. Is there such a thing as advice for all the “in-between moments” of a story? The subtle parts that thread the story along between the major plot points? Or am I just being too nit-picky?

This is such an important question. We can often lose sight of the fact that the real magic of story structure isn’t in the beats, but in the way the sections around them build, shift, and propel us forward. Part of the reason we might fall into this dilemma is that it can be easy to think of a story’s beats/plot points as distinct from the surrounding scenes. The truth is that the beats must be part of a seamless chain of story events, each one building into the next. The beats are distinct simply in that they represent important nodes of transformation.

If you’re one of those writers who enjoy plotting out structural beat sheets or outlining high-level plot skeletons, but then struggle when it comes time to write your way to the beats, today I want to walk you through a change in perspective. I’m going to show you how to integrate the idea of plot points into the plot itself, so that the entire story feels cohesive and resonant.

In This Article:

• Connect Plot Points by Thinking in Story Sections, Not Just Beats
• How Each Story Section Bridges the Major Plot Points
• Use the Intent-Reaction-New-Intent Pattern to Keep the Story Moving
• Think About Scene Sequences Instead of Just Isolated Scenes
• Give Each Section Its Own Thematic or Episodic Focus

Connect Plot Points by Thinking in Story Sections, Not Just Beats

Structuring Your Novel: Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition (Amazon affiliate link)

When we talk about “story structure,” most of the time what we’re really talking about is a shortcut method to help us easily visualize a story’s entire arc in order to ensure every piece contributes to a cohesive whole. No matter what structural methodology you ascribe to, the structure identified through various names and pacing/timing suggestions is there for the singular purpose of creating a story that works. It’s about the end product, not the pieces.

However, because story structure discussions unavoidably place so much emphasis on plot beats, what we end up with can often seem like little more than a checklist of beats. That’s where the trouble can begin.

Here’s the truth: however important the plot beats are, they’re not where your story lives. Your story lives in the spaces in between. Only by connecting plot points can we create story flow.

Although I have found it most accessible to learn story structure by memorizing and understanding plot beats, I actually find it most useful to interact with story itself as a series of sections. These sections are those that naturally emerge in the spaces between the plot beats.

Story structure, as I teach it, starts out as seven equally spaced plot beats (not counting the bookends of Hook and Resolution):

1. Inciting Event
2. First Plot Point
3. First Pinch Point
4. Midpoint (Second Plot Point)
5. Second Pinch Point
6. Third Plot Point
7. Climax

Although each of these plot points represents crucial story moments (and, likely, the story’s biggest and most important scenes), what they give us that is even more important are eight (more or less) equally spaced sections of the story. These “in between” sections are not empty spaces, nor are they arbitrary. They are thematically related to their connected plot points and exist to allow the story to fully develop each plot beat’s purpose and deeper symbolism of transformation.

How Each Story Section Bridges the Major Plot Points

When you start thinking about the “in between” moments as bridges between plot points, you can immediately get a sense for what might happen in what can otherwise seem a yawning blank space.

Plot points = turning points.

The sections in between = transitional spaces in which characters process the previous beat’s change and aim toward the next.

We place so much emphasis upon plot beats precisely because they are turning points. Turning points represent change. And change is the engine that moves a story’s plot forward.

However, change means little without context and causality. Although we could ostensibly jump from plot point to plot point—creating a very short story of only seven scenes—the depth and complexity available in storytelling becomes available when we emphasize cause and effect.

• What has caused this change? I.e., what has built up to the plot point?
• What effect does this change now cause? I.e., what consequences will dictate new choices and behavior from the characters?

From this causality, we also get to build context. In real life, change is less about singular causes and effects and more about systemic influences. The longer the sections between plot points, the more opportunity to develop thoughtful verisimilitude. The first step in figuring out what to write between major events starts with examining how characters would naturally react to what’s just happened. And how will their natural actions lead most interestingly to the next moment of change—the next major plot point?

Use the Intent-Reaction-New-Intent Pattern to Keep the Story Moving

The forward momentum of plot is constructed from two simple pieces: the characters’ intentions and the obstacles that complicate their forward momentum. That’s it.

From there, however, we can access all kinds of delicious complexity and nuance. When characters’ intentions are met with complications (aka, conflict), turning points of change necessarily arise as characters adapt to the circumstances and try to figure out new ways to progress. Some of these moments of change are story-altering turning points. These are the major structural points. Specifically, they are moments in which the change that results is so great it cannot easily be reversed.

However, many moments in a story show characters adapting and changing in ways that are not so dramatic. After their initial intentions are obstructed by the major consequences offered up in plot points, characters will then spend time reacting. They may experiment with certain methods, backtrack, try again—making many choices but none that yet represent “doorways of no return.” Most scenes in your story will offer some version of these smaller reactions as characters formulate the new or revised intentions that will lead them to the next major plot point.

You know your in-between scenes are meaningful, rather than just filler, when each moment exists in a continuum between the complications encountered by the characters’ original intention and the new intention that is formed in reaction to those complications. This ensures every moment in your story matters by contributing to the character’s progression to the next major turning point.

For Example:

In The King’s Speech, Bertie’s initial intention is simply to avoid public speaking because of his debilitating stammer. That goal is complicated when his brother abdicates the throne and Bertie must assume the crown (a dramatic Doorway of No Return). Much of the middle of the story is devoted to his reactions to each new challenge: reluctantly seeking out speech coach Lionel Logue, resisting Logue’s unconventional methods, making halting progress, backsliding, and trying again. Few of these scenes are decisive or life-altering, but each reflects the continuum of adaptation as Bertie’s smaller, immediate intentions evolve. Ultimately, they prepare him for the climactic wartime broadcast in which he fully embraces his role as king. These in-between sequences matter because they dramatize the inner progression from avoidance to acceptance, bridging the early setup and the later turning points.

A still from The King’s Speech, showing how character reactions in the in-between scenes build momentum between the story’s major turning points. (The King’s Speech (2010), Paramount Pictures.)

In the question at the beginning of the post, Stephanie mentioned “scene and sequel,” which is a useful way of structuring individual scenes to ensure they all matter and each builds into the next. In this approach, each moment in the story is divided into halves, one focusing on action (“scene”) and the other focusing on reaction (“sequel”). You can then further break down each half into three tasks apiece to further strengthen the story’s realistic progression:

Scene (Action):

1. Goal: Characters move forward according to their intentions.
2. Conflict: Characters are met with an obstacle that creates complications.
3. Outcome: This obstacle creates complications (i.e., a “disaster”) that demands characters alter their tactics.

Sequel (Reaction):

1. Reaction: Characters must reevaluate their approach.
2. Dilemma: They examine what is currently not working.
3. Decision: They formulate a new or slightly altered intention that allows them to respond to the complications and continue forward.

You can also think of these scene polarities in terms of:

• Cause and effect
• Question and answer

Regardless, the point is to create a realistic progression from plot point to plot point by following characters through their process of evolution in response to the obstacles presented along the way.

Think About Scene Sequences Instead of Just Isolated Scenes

Thinking of your story in terms of its scenes can be just as useful as thinking in terms of its plot points. However, both approaches have the drawback of potentially causing writers to think of their stories too much as “parts” rather than the larger “sum” that is created from those parts. In other words: we can lose the forest for the trees.

This is why I encourage writers to view the sections in between plot points less in terms of individual scenes and more in terms of scene sequences.

A scene sequence is a larger unit within the story, bringing together multiple smaller scenes in a unified episode. Usually, scene sequences can be identified by a specific focus within the larger story, such as “a battle” or “a negotiation” or “a birthday party” or “a funeral.”

For Example:

The movie adaptation of Seabiscuit features many sequences about a “horse race,” each one focused specifically on one important race or another, such as the “match race against War Admiral” or the “Santa Anita comeback.”

A scene from Seabiscuit highlighting how a focused sequence—such as the horse’s pivotal race—creates its own mini-arc and drives the story forward between the major turning points. (Seabiscuit (2003), Universal Pictures)

Scene sequences create a mini-arc of their own, featuring a beginning, a middle, and a defined end (as is obvious in the horse race example above, which ends with clearly defined winners and losers and therefore a clearly defined relationship between the protagonists and their goals).

Although any chain of interrelated scenes (aka, scenes and sequels) will certainly create a tightly woven plot that progresses cohesively toward its finale, scene sequences offer extra opportunities to create “shape” and momentum, particularly in the in-between sections. Even better, they can be used to their greatest effect by incorporating the plot points directly into them, usually climactically.

For Example

The Midpoint in The Great Escape features the German guards’ discovery of the POWs’ almost-completed escape tunnel. Although this Midpoint could conceivably have happened in any scene, the movie featured it as the climax of the lengthy “Independence Day” scene sequence in which the POWs drunkenly celebrate the 4th of July with potato-mash moonshine. The sequence is iconic because of its focused episodic nature and naturally leads into the decisive Midpoint in which (among other things) Steve McQueen’s previously uncooperative character resolves to gather necessary information to enable the eventual escape.

The 4th of July celebration scene from The Great Escape, featuring James Garner and Steve McQueen, is an iconic example of how a focused scene sequence can set tone and momentum for the Midpoint turning point. (The Great Escape (1963), The Mirisch Company.)

This is another reason it can be so valuable to think of your story in terms of sections rather than simply plot points or scenes. Instead of trying to build your way between plot points scene by scene, you can instead conceive of larger sequences that can easily and intuitively be filled with interesting scenes—all building upon one another toward the next major turning point.

Give Each Section Its Own Thematic or Episodic Focus

Beyond thinking of general scene sequences, you can also draw inspiration from the inherent themes of each section. Each of the eight sections in your story is defined by the plot points that precede and follow it. This is certainly true of the specific events in your story, and it is also true from the higher-level viewpoint of the thematic and symbolic purposes of each plot point.

Next Level Plot Structure (Amazon affiliate link)

I’ve discussed the deeper meaning and purpose (both functionally and symbolically) of each of the major plot points in many other posts (and in my book Next Level Plot Structure), so I will just mention them briefly here:

1. Inciting Event (Call to Adventure/Refusal of the Call)
2. First Plot Point (Doorway of No Return/Key Event)
3. First Pinch Point (Glimpse of the Beast / Stirring of Resolve)
4. Midpoint or Second Plot Point (Moment of Truth/Plot Revelation)
5. Second Pinch Point (Wrath of the Beast / Call to Defiance)
6. Third Plot Point (False Victory/Low Moment)
7. Climax (Sacrifice/Victory or Failure)

Example: How The Lion King Connects Plot Points Through Thematic Story Sections

By looking at a solid story like The Lion King, you can see how these turning points can be used to thematically create the eight discrete sections that exist between the major plot points.

Section 1: Hook to Inciting Event

The story opens with the splendor of the Pride Lands and the birth of the heir. This first section carries the sense of innocence and expectation. The world is bright and orderly, but we sense Scar’s jealousy stirring in the shadows, foreshadowing the first disruption.

Section 2: Inciting Event to First Plot Point

The tone shifts to reckless curiosity and danger. Simba’s brush with death in the elephant graveyard shows both his bravado and his vulnerability. This whole sequence, colored by the Call to Adventure, builds toward the irreversible loss at the First Plot Point.

The Lion King (1994), Walt Disney Pictures.

Section 3: First Plot Point to First Pinch Point

Simba’s exile after Mufasa’s death sets the story into the mood of grief, shame, and avoidance. The journey through the desert and the discovery of the carefree Hakuna Matata life reflect a running away that seems like relief but deepens his detachment from his true destiny.

Section 4: First Pinch Point to Midpoint

Scar’s misrule turns the Pride Lands into a wasteland, and that shadow colors this whole stretch even in the comic interludes. Nala’s arrival and Rafiki’s wisdom begin to pull Simba from denial into awakening, preparing him for the revelation that will meet him at the Midpoint.

Section 5: Midpoint (Second Plot Point) to Second Pinch Point

After seeing Mufasa in the sky and being urged to “remember who you are,” the tone shifts to renewed purpose and resolve. The journey back across the desert and the first glimpse of the devastated Pride Lands carry the drive of a hero returning to claim his place.

Section 6: Second Pinch Point to Third Plot Point

Simba’s searing return to Pride Rock, when he sees his mother mistreated and the land destroyed, focuses the theme into defiance and direct confrontation. That forward drive carries Simba straight into what looks like his great victory—only to have it come undone by the revelation at the Third Plot Point.

The Lion King (1994), Walt Disney Pictures.

Section 7: Third Plot Point to Climax

Simba’s False Victory collapses into humiliation and inner defeat when Scar taunts him with the truth about Mufasa’s death. This sequence holds the story’s darkest emotional tone, out of which Simba must rise in order to face the final battle.

Section 8: Climax to Resolution

The final movement is colored by reckoning and restoration. Simba accepts his role and overcomes Scar, bringing not just victory but the return of harmony to the land, allowing the outer world to reflect his inner transformation.

You can see how each stretch between beats is naturally colored with its own tone, mood, or purpose (e.g., discovery, doubt, regrouping, etc.). Thinking in these thematic/episodic chunks can help you avoid a sagging middle by making the entire story feel more cohesive.

Conclusion

When you stop thinking of the spaces between plot points as empty gaps and start seeing them as the places where your characters grow and change, the story gains real shape and momentum. From this perspective, the beats aren’t just mile markers. Rather, they spark the consequences that always ripple forward into the subsequent sections. Your job isn’t simply to move from one landmark to the next, but to let each turning point influence what comes after. Plot points should shape everything: the tone, the characters’ choices, and the plot’s forward drive. When you can do that, your story will no longer feel like a disconnected string of events, but like one continuous, compelling flow of cause and effect.

Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! What do you find most challenging when writing the stretches between your story’s big turning points? Tell me in the comments!

Want More?

Structuring Your Novel Workbook (affiliate link)

If you’re ready to go deeper in planning not just the big beats but also the vital sections that bridge them, check out the newly revised and expanded 2nd Edition of my Structuring Your Novel Workbook!

This edition includes:

• Clear guidance for identifying your story’s major plot points.
• Exercises for mapping the spaces in between.
• Practical worksheets to help you keep the plot’s cause and effect moving forward.

Whether you’re outlining a new story or revising a draft, the workbook walks you step-by-step through building a structure that feels cohesive, purposeful, and dramatically alive. It’s available in paperback, e-book, and as a deluxe fillable pdf.

In Summary: How to Connect Plot Points and Keep the Story Moving

Thinking of your story as eight story sections connected by major plot points transforms the writing process. Instead of dragging characters from one landmark scene to the next, you can let each turning point set the tone, stakes, and momentum for the section that follows. This perspective makes it far easier to connect plot points, plan purposeful scene sequences, and keep your story flowing without a sagging middle.

Key Takeaways

• Connect Plot Points With Purpose: Treat the spaces between the beats as crucial story sections, not filler.
• Use Turning Points as Catalysts: Each beat should set the thematic tone and drive the next section.
• Keep the Story Moving With Intent-Reaction-New-Intent: Show how evolving goals and obstacles create a natural flow of cause and effect.
• Write in Scene Sequences, Not Just Scenes: Linked episodes give each section pacing, shape, and momentum.
• Color Each Section With Its Theme: Tone and focus should grow out of the symbolic meaning of the previous plot point.

Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Helping Writers Become Authors podcast in Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, or Spotify).

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