Playing Hide and Seek with Structure

You can stop looking for your glasses, they're on top of your head

A woman looking for her glasses with glasses on her head

I’ve been at this writing thing for decades, and guess what’s been hiding in plain sight? Structure! It’s been playing an annoying game of hide and seek just to aggravate me. And where has it been hiding?

It’s been hiding in scenes. You know those mini masterpieces you labor over? Those.

As we all know, a scene is when something happens. No duh! And something happening is what moves your story along. No duh. And, so it seems, moving your story along is what gives it structure—one more NO DUH.

So why am I so excited to finally get it?

You know how it feels when you lose your glasses and you drive yourself crazy looking everywhere, only to realize they’ve been on top of your head all along? It’s like that.

I’ve been on the hunt for the Goldilocks structure for my essay collection. I was sure it was hidden away in some obscure place only much smarter writers knew about.

But finally, I found it. The scenes in my work are where the structure has been hiding all along. In plain sight. No duh.