When You Don’t Know What Happens Next in Your Story, Try This
Raise your hand if this has ever happened to you.
You know the next big thing that needs to happen in the story buuuut you have absolutely no idea how to get there from where you are. It’s like someone forgot to write down all the directions to a very important location, yeah?
If you did raise your hand, this will help.
When the “what happens next?” question feels frustrating, it’s easy to assume you need to invent a new conflict or a brand-new situation.
And sometimes you do. But more often, the solution isn’t about creating more—it’s about using what already exists.
The answer you’re looking for is almost always hidden in what just happened in the story.
Stories Work Like Falling Dominoes
Super simplistic example, but it helps to think of a story as a row of dominoes.
Knock the first one over, and then the next one falls, and then the next. It’s a chain reaction. The kinetic energy from one domino toppling over is transferred to another.
Translation: what happens next in your story should grow naturally out of what happened before.
So if you’re stuck, it usually means you need to pause for a backward glance before you try to move forward.
Start by Examining Consequences
When you reach a point in your draft where you don’t know what happens next, ask yourself:
What just happened in the story?
What changed for the character?
What decision was made?
What new problem did that decision create?
What are the consequences of that moment?
Stories are about creating a global change, and scenes are about incremental movement within that change. Something should shift in each scene for your characters—a new realization, a choice, a complication, a loss, a victory.
Once something changes, the character must respond to that change.
And that response is the next scene.
If Nothing Changed, That’s the Problem
Sometimes the reason you’re stuck isn’t that the next moment is unclear.
It’s because the previous moment didn’t actually create a significant change for your character to react to.
If a scene ends and nothing is different—no new decision, realization, pressure, or new consequences or goal—then there’s nothing pushing the story forward.
That’s when it’s helpful to go back and strengthen the cause-and-effect logic of the previous moments or even a previous section of scenes.
In storytelling terms, we often call this the “because of that” principle.
The character is pursuing a goal, and because of that, they take action.
Because of that, something else happens.
Because of that, the next complication emerges, or the next thing happens.
When that chain breaks, or becomes a series of unlinked events (this happens, then this happens, then this happens, and on and on) the story stalls.
Look at the Forces Acting on Your Character
If you’re trying to figure out what should happen next, also consider the pressures surrounding your protagonist.
Ask yourself:
What is the antagonist force doing right now?
What new pressure might it apply? How might this affect your protagonist?
What do the other characters want?
Are they pursuing their own agendas? Should that create a response from your protagonist?
Often, the next step in the story comes from another character pushing, interrupting, demanding, or complicating the protagonist's situation. Takes more than one person to drive a story bus!
Stories move forward through pressure and response.
A Simple Rule of Thumb
When you feel stuck in your draft, remember this:
The problem you’re facing now rarely starts with the scene you’re struggling to write, and it’s usually solved by looking back.
Go back and reread the previous pages.
Track:
what the character wanted
what happened
what changed
and what consequences should logically follow
Very often, the next scene is already hiding there.
Because once something changes in a story, your character has to react.
And that reaction is where the story moves next.
If you’re still stuck after doing this exercise, write a messy “reaction scene” where the character processes what just happened—emotionally, practically, or strategically. That often reveals the next direction.
