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Once you have the scene outlined, it is time to develop the content.1. Opening Line: Set up the conflict in the scene.
2. First paragraphs: Orient us: where are we, when is it, who is present, and what do they want?
3. Introduce theme and make sure the goal is understood.
4. Follow a logical chain of events: The action or conversation is followed by a visceral response, then a conscious response, then recovery/thinking/planning, then the outcome which should result in a new goal.
Make sure you show a recovery after all key scenes and turning points.
5. Vary the speed to create a flow that keeps a reader interested.
1) Slow, fast, slow.
2) Slow, medium, fast.
3) Fast, medium, slow.
4) Medium, fast, slow.
Vary sentence structure. Vary the speed within the scene. Nonstop action without resting beats is too fast. All internal narration and narration without action beats is too slow. Highlight the fast parts. Are there peaks and valleys? Have quieter, slower conflicts between big turning points and reveals.
Every tense action scene should have a rise, impact, and fall. Every tense conversation should have a lead up to a tense exchange, a verbal zinger, and a response. Show the recovery, leave a hook with the new complication.
Slow speed includes blend of description, narrative, internal dialogue and narrative, and exposition (i.e. background information). Long cumulative sentences are slow (use sparingly). Facts, review, summary, backstory, and flashbacks are slow.
Use Medium/Normal pacing when the story is progressing but nothing special is happening. Good for setting a scene or transitioning between two dramatic scenes. Give readers a break from the action and slow down the pace. Use an even blend of description, dialogue, narration, and exposition. Include step by step detail. Use compound sentences with limited detail. Use fleshed out dialogue interposed with action beats and short internal thoughts. Focus on a specific encounter or activity.
Use Atmospheric pacing to create a mood or feeling in a chapter. Set a scene, establish tone, or foreshadow events, often all at the same time. Blend physical and psychological description to set the mood. The story is moving forward but the blend of descriptions suffuses the scene with the desired effect.
Use Suspenseful pacing to keep readers on the edge of their seat. Focus on step by step detail and action that work toward but delay the ultimate payoff. Use short, choppy rhythm, then long beats, then short, choppy beats. Suspense is slow but seems fast because the reader speeds up as he rushes to see how events play out.
Someone is being hunted or struggling. Allow the reader to feel anxiety. Dialogue with a little action and description thrown in can be suspenseful, tense. Use description to set up scary mood. Drag out tension. The verbal camera is at a wide angle. The catalyst could be sights, smells, sounds, touch, anxiety. Zoom in closer until on the face or inside head. The climax should be in virtual slow motion, blow by blow focus on the words and actions.
Use fast pace to create tension. Dialogue is fast with little action or thoughts and lots of white space. High action scenes or characters engaged in emotional confrontations are fast. Short summary can be fast. Short dialogue and action beats, base clauses, and short sentences add speed. The verbal camera is zoomed in all the way. Save high speed for important turning points. Focus on one element to the exclusion of all others, just dialogue or narration of action. Leave out description beyond physical action. Use short snappy sentences. Avoid details like left and right that force your reader to think about it. Once involved in the action, switch to longer compound and cumulative sentences. Pause when characters pause to maintain the illusion.
6. Closing line: End with a hook to set up next scene and convince the reader to turn the page.For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
Now that you have the basic concept for your plot and have developed ideas for scenes, it is time to write them. Let's examine what constitutes a scene.
A scene consists of specific characters in one location going after a specific goal at a specific time. Characters can enter and exit a scene. Characters can move from one location to another. The important part is to not waste page time on the boring details of transport from one place to another and to avoid timeline plot holes with starting out in the morning and having it pitch black night ten minutes later. In every scene, we need to know where we are, when it is, who is present, and whether they get what they want.
SCENE WORKSHEET
Scene# ___
Goal:____________________________________________________________
POV:_________________________________________________________________
What are the obstacles involved?:
_____________________________________________________________________
It the goal achieved? ¨Yes ¨No ¨Yes, but ¨No and furthermore
Type of Conflict: ¨External # __ ¨Antagonist # ___ ¨Interpersonal #____
or ¨Internal # ____
Source of Conflict:_____________________________________________________________
Who is involved: ¨ Protagonist ¨Antagonist ¨Love Interest ¨Friends # ___________ ¨Foes#_______________
¨Main Plot or ¨Subplot____
Setting/Timeline:________________________________________________________
Physical Location:(geographic, room or building, outside, inside, in a vehicle, etc.).
____________________________________________________________________
Date: ____________________ Day of Week:_________________________________
Time ___ o’clock
¨ Morning ¨ Mid Morning ¨Noon ¨Afternoon ¨ Evening ¨Night
Season: ¨ Spring ¨Summer ¨Fall ¨Winter
Holiday or other special occasion_____________________________________
Weather or Room Conditions:____________________________________________________
Opening Line: __________________________________________________
Closing Line:___________________________________________________
For downloadable forms please visit http://www.dianahurwitz.com.
For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
Once you have the premise, the antagonist, the friends, foes, and overall story problem. It is time to break it down into layers. By coming up with at least ten scene ideas for each conflict layer, you can keep the plot moving forward in satisfying curves and twists, keeping the verbal camera on the move.
Layer One: External Conflict
What is the main story problem that all of your characters are dealing with?
These conflicts will test the protagonist’s courage, nerves, and determination.
List at least ten things that will happen to escalate this conflict: snags in the plan, unexpected discoveries, increasing levels of threat, and arrange them in an order that will make the most impact with the final scene being the resolution.
(Examples: finds gun, interviews suspect, confronts best friend, goes on date, looks for answer, can’t find someone).
At each step is the protagonist moving toward or away from the goal?
Layer two: Antagonist Conflict
How will the protagonist and antagonist face off? Use these scenes to reveal how they will pursue and evade or influence one another.
These conflicts will test the protagonist’s knowledge, ingenuity, and strength.
They are battles of will and wit. If the story involves multiple points of view and the antagonist is one of them, these scenes would be written following his or her point of view. All of the conflicts lead to the climactic confrontation with the protagonist.
List ten ideas.
Is the protagonist moving toward or away from his goal?
If these scenes follow the antagonist's POV, is he moving toward or away from his goal?
Layer three: Interpersonal Conflicts
How will the protagonist be affected by his friends and foes?
These conflicts will test the protagonist’s friendships, and loyalties.
Friends and foes can be used in any combination of scenes that fit with your story line. Make a list of Interpersonal Conflicts and who they will be with. Remember, not all are negative. There can be positive encounters.
List ten ideas.
Which friend or foe is involved? Are they helping or hindering?
The fourth layer: Internal Conflict
These scenes test the protagonist's will to continue the fight.
These scenes explore the personal dilemma of the protagonist that will lead to the point of change. He can do this through internal dialogue or dialogue with someone acting as his foil.
This is where you reveal the event that happened in the past and how it changed him. This is him dealing with the death of his partner, the loss of his wife, the child he didn’t save. These scenes can show him struggling with a habit or addiction or an ailing parent or wife.
This often culminates in the section after the climax, where we find out if the protagonist is going to live happily ever after. It can also culminate just prior to the climax. That does not mean other characters cannot be in these scenes or that he is not doing anything. It means his thoughts, reactions and actions illustrate the dilemma that is driving him toward his point of change.
List ten ideas. Is the protagonist solving or complicating his dilemma?
Now arrange the conflicts in the order that work best for your story. Try not to stack too many scenes of any one type together. Keep the flow steady.
For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
Let's take the information we've developed and place it into a basic synopsis.
In my (word count) _________________ (genre)_______________________ novel,
(title) ____________________________________________________________,
(protagonist)____________________________________________is confronted by
(inciting event)_______________________________________________________,
leading to (overall story problem)______________________________________
and forcing him/her to (story goal)_______________________________________
Along the way he/she needs to resolve (personal dilemma)_____________________
which results in (point of change)________________________________________
Standing in his/her way is (antagonist)_____________________________________
who is determined to (antagonist’s goal)___________________________________.
As a result, the protagonist:
o succeeds and feels good about it
o succeeds and feels bad about it
o fails and feels good about it
o fails feels bad about it)
and learns (theme)___________________________________________________.
These are the bare bones of a synopsis. Making it sparkle requires your word polish.
For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
Last week, we began our story architecture process with the protagonist and antagonist. This week, we continue to answer questions and add layers.
FRIENDSList the friendly characters and their motivations and/or opinions on the central theme.
Friend #1 Character Name: ____________________
Enters the story in Scene#___________ Exits the story in Scene#___________
This character complicates or advances the protagonist’s achievement of his goal by: ________________________________________________
Friend #2 Character Name: ___________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#_____ Exits the story in Scene#____
This character complicates or advances the protagonist’s achievement of his goal by:__________________________________________________________________
Friend #3 Character Name:________________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#_____ Exits the story in Scene#____
This character complicates or advances the protagonist’s achievement of his goal by:_________________________________________________________________
Friend #4 Character Name: ___________________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#______ Exits the story in Scene#____
This character complicates or advances the protagonist’s achievement of his goal by:__________________________________________________________________
Friend #5 Character Name: ___________________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#______ Exits the story in Scene#______
This character complicates or advances the protagonist’s achievement of his goal by:_________________________________________________________________
Friend #6 Character Name: ___________________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#________ Exits the story in Scene#______
This character complicates or advances the protagonist’s achievement of his goal by:___________________________________________________________
Friend #7 Character Name: ______________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#______ Exits the story in Scene#_____
This character complicates or advances the protagonist’s achievement of his goal by:___________________________________________________________
Friend #8 Character Name: ______________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#______ Exits the story in Scene#_____
This character complicates or advances the protagonist’s achievement of his goal by:______________________________________________________________
Friend #9 Character Name: ____________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#_______ Exits the story in Scene#_________
This character complicates or advances the protagonist’s achievement of his goal by:____________________________________________________________
Friend #10 Character Name:______________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#_____ Exits the story in Scene#_______
This character complicates or advances the protagonist’s achievement of his goal by:____________________________________________________________
Next week, we continue to add layers by developing the foes.
For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
Over the next few weeks, during the month of NanoWriMo, I thought I'd walk you through my process of outlining a story based on my theory set out in the Story Building Blocks series of books.
By working through a series of questions you can build a basic story skeleton.
1) What is your initial premise or set up?__________________________________
2) Which will drive your story?
1 If your story is plot driven, it will sit on a genre shelf.
1 If it is character driven, it will most likely sit on the literary shelf.
3) In my story the main character struggles with the overall story problem and learns
(Theme): ___________________________________________________________
4) My protagonist is: __________________________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#___________ Exits the story in Scene#___________
5) If there is a love interest, he or she is: ___________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#___________ Exits the story in Scene#___________
6) As the result of the (inciting event) the protagonist is forced to face the overall
story problem:_______________________________________________________
7) The inciting event forces the protagonist to make a decision or take action to (story
goal): ______________________________________________________________
8) Achieving this goal is complicated by his/her having to deal with (personal dilemma): ___________________________________________________________
9) In achieving (or not achieving) the story goal, the character resolves his/her personal dilemma in this way (point of change): _____________________________________
10) The characteristic/ability that keeps the protagonist from ignoring the story
problem is (character flaw or weakness):
__________________________________________________________________
11) The characteristic/ability that enables him to solve the story problem is (secret
weapon):___________________________________________________________
12) Directly opposed to the protagonist’s goal is the (antagonist or antagonistic force
such as god, society, nature, self) ___________________________________________
Enters the story in Scene#___________ Exits the story in Scene#___________
13) The antagonist’s wants to (antagonist’s goal): ____________________________
14) The reason the antagonist is capable of stopping the protagonist is (antagonist’s
secret weapon):______________________________________________________
15) But in the end the antagonist is unsuccessful because of (antagonist’s character
flaw):______________________________________________________________
16) The antagonist fails in his goal and (antagonist point of change if there is one or his disposition at the end: changed, dead, locked up, free to strike again):
__________________________________________________________________
Tune in next week as we continue to build our story skeleton.
For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
We have picked a subgenre, developed external scenes that affect the story world, antagonist scenes where the hero and evil face off, and interpersonal scenes where friends and foes help and hinder.
Internal Conflict scenes are where the protagonist debates his belief in ghosts or wrestles with his depression over the death of his mother.
The scientist wonders if he should finally ask his co-researcher out for a date.
He struggles with whatever force is driving him to kill the monster or prove that aliens are out there.
These scenes are sometimes missing in the horror story, unless it is psychological horror. Personal stakes and character change enrich any story.
Whatever his internal struggle is, it should make solving the overall story problem difficult, if not impossible.
For more information on the Horror genre, visit http://www.horror.org.
For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
We've selected a subgenre, created external scenes and antagonist scenes. Now let's take a look at how the friends and foes complicate the situation.
Interpersonal Conflict scenes are where the protagonist consults a priest about banishing the demon.
He learns from the librarian that all ghosts have unfinished business.
His buddy tells him he is crazy for believing in ghosts in the first place.
This is usually where they learn the monster’s Achilles heel.
The hero finds someone to let him into the witch’s castle.
People will encourage him to stay and fight and some will beg him to flee.
Some people will act for him or against him.
Next week, we'll finish up with internal conflict scenes.
For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
You've chosen the subgenre and developed ten scenes dedicated to the impact the evil has on the entire story world.
Antagonist Conflict scenes depend on what kind of antagonist you have chosen. There can be a person or an entity that embodies the horror they are confronting.
A dire threat like a virus is better if there is someone who wants the virus to run its course. I am reminded of a film that I saw called The Happening. Even though it was directed by one of my favorites, M. Night Shyamalan, the antagonist was a breeze that killed people and wasn’t really menacing enough. There were no clear stakes in the game either. The horror was caused by spores from trees carried on the wind. The deaths were random. Random isn’t as effective as intentional.
In these scenes, the evil and the protagonist face off with each other.
In these scenes, the protagonist comes into contact with the ghost and asks the ghost why it is haunting the house. The evil entity attempts to kill but misses the hero.
These scenes can also follow the evil entity.
The antagonist POV is rarely followed in this genre, but if your verbal camera is following the antagonist, this is the place to do it.
The object of horror’s motivation is rarely examined. You see the vampire creeping toward the sleeping girl because you know vampires suck blood. The sea monster slithers down a city street from the manhole and will eat people, because that is what monsters do. The serial killer kills because he must. We rarely follow the swamp monster as he goes about his swampy day. That’s not to say you can’t. If the antagonist is a person or represented by a person, you can follow them in these scenes and explore their agenda.
These scenes are a direct confrontation with the horror that has been unleashed. The verbal camera narrows its focus to the protagonist and the source of the horror facing off or the person or entity enacting their agenda.
Next time, we'll look at interpersonal conflict scenes.For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.<
External Conflict scenes follow the effects of the evil on the entire cast or story world.
The intent of these scenes is to scare the pants off of your readers. You have to confine them, torture them with something suspected but just out of sight. The menace has to be believable and constitute a mortal threat to one, some or all. Panic rises. Suspicion shifts.
In these scenes, the protagonist and/or victims are chased down a dark corridor, finds the journal with the ghost’s picture, or searches the library for who used to own the creepy house. They get locked in the cellar by the demon as the house goes up in flames.
In the final external scenes, the threat is removed, unless it is banished to return in the sequel.
List ten scene ideas for how the protagonists and the rest of the cast confront the evil, gain ground, lose, then win (or lose?).
For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
No story makes your skin crawl more than the horror story. The horror story takes suspense to a higher, usually more explicit, level and generally contains more graphic material than the Thriller.
The overall story problem in this genre is a mortal threat to an individual or group. Therec can be a mystery at the heart of it, but it is separate from the mystery genre.
Antagonists include the abnormal and paranormal: ghosts, zombies, vampires, serial murderers, killer sharks, giant spiders, viruses, vampires, werewolves or clowns. The antagonist must be nearly impossible to beat and to fail means death.
The reader expects to be not only thrilled and anxious, but horrified and you need to start from page one. You can start slow and build on the horror, but true fans won’t appreciate a slow, horror-free build-up to a final, horrible truth.
The point of the Horror story is to make the readers squirm, scream, and confront their fears either individually or as a group. The fears can be everyday things such as fear of being alone, of the dead, of the unknown, or of the dark. The horror genre magnifies our fears so we can examine them safely.
There must a sense of being trapped in a room, a house, a town, or on a planet that you can’t escape and therefore must turn and face the threat. It’s scariest if the reader doesn’t know where the threat is hiding or where it will strike next. It’s that feeling of “there’s something in the dark, I can’t see it, how can I protect myself from it?” that preys on our elemental fear of being defenseless.
It can also be the “who will die next” plot.
The reader asks: What brought the danger near and how will they get away from it?
There are several subgenres of horror from suspenseful to gruesome.
Alien Horror takes Science Fiction to a darker place. The source of the horror is either on another planet or something brought to Earth from outer space.
Creepy Kids Horror features children who turn out to be evil, possessed by demons or Satan himself.
Erotic Horror features explicit content: sadomasochism, torture, the dark side of sexuality and the sex trade.
Extreme Horror contains explicit violence and is often a “who dies first plot” with no real rhyme or reason other than to kill the victims off in horrendous fashion.
Holocaust Horror contains mass deaths, either in the past or future. They can be due to human slaughter, a rogue virus, monsters, zombies, etc. They are often dystopian or post-apocalyptic settings.
Humorous Horror combines the horror structure with the comedy structure. It is scary, but also funny.
Mind Control Horror plays on our fear of not being in control – especially of our own minds. The mind can be taken over via sorcery or via technology. Victims are forced to act against their will and nature and are horrifying aware of it – unlike a mindless zombie.
Noir Horror uses a gritty, urban setting with cynical protagonists who must fight the horror facing himself or everyone.
Paranormal Horror features a mortal protagonist who must fight off immortal or supernatural threats. These include exorcist tales, possession, ghosts or demons.
Psychological Horror keeps the verbal camera in tight focus on the protagonist. He and the audience are kept in the dark. They aren’t certain what they are fighting until the end. This subgenre can also follow the evil or insane protagonist such as a serial killer, where the protagonist actually turns out to be the antagonist.
Rampant Technology Horror examines our fears that man has gone too far in their technology or achievements. It can feature monster toasters or robots that kill. It can be the ghost in the machine or the machine that steals your soul.
Satanic Bargain Horror features a protagonist who strikes a deal with the devil, like Dorian Gray. They end up paying a horrible price for their decision.
What are your favorite horror subgenres? Can you think of others?
You can learn more about the genre through Horror Writers Association at http://horror.org/
You can join their group on Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/Horrorwritersassoc/.
For the month of October, we will examine story building block layers as they pertain to the horror genre.
For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
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By: Diana Hurwitz,
on 9/2/2016
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Tweet: There was a time and place when a man was only as good as his word and integrity was paramount. #writingtips
A clansman's oath was to the death. Tribesmen the world over made verbal contracts often involving an exchange of blood.
If you lived in merry old Europe during most of the regent-named eras, a reputation was considered more important than currency. A man might be poor, but he could still have his good name. Lots of citizens indulged in lascivious shenanigans, though most turned a blind eye while they did so. As long as the shenanigans took place in private and the “public” remained ignorant, all was well and good. Shift the curtains and allow a passerby to see inside the facade and the person in question was ruined.
Are honesty and integrity important in your story world? Is it more valuable than currency?
Is it important for Dick to have a “good name?” What will Dick have to do to maintain or regain his reputation? Many a tale hinges on someone trying to repair a damaged reputation. Dick’s integrity might be one of his hot buttons. Others will challenge it at their own risk.
Dick might be proud of his reputation as a womanizer and guy’s guy. Jane might look down her patrician nose at him for being so superficial. In many a love story, she finds out her initial prejudice was unfounded.
Jane might have a reputation as a loose woman with a sharp tongue. When forced to work with Jane, Dick might realize Jane has been unfairly demonized. She is really quite lovely.
How important are honesty and integrity to the characters that move about your story world?
Not all of them will value the same things. To some, virtues will be of the highest importance. To others, vices might be of higher importance.
Is it better to give than receive? Depends on who is giving and who is receiving, doesn’t it? If Dick is giving money to a charity, it’s a good thing. If Jane is giving crucial intelligence to Iran, not such a good thing. Both might have a reputation as a “giving” sort of person.
What if Dick has earned a reputation he does not deserve? What if he is held aloft and admired by millions for something he didn’t really do, or for doing something that appeared benign when it was secretly malignant?
It might be Jane’s story goal to strip him of his “good name.”
A business’s reputation is worth its weight in stocks. A single incident can trash a business’s reputation. The business may never recover. The stakes are high when a company is fighting to keep, change, or restore its reputation. Those at the top of the corporate pyramid may turn lethal if their reputation is challenged. If Dick orchestrates a coup with the sole purpose of destroying a corporation, the game is on.
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To learn more about the mannequins and how personality types create conflict for your characters, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict, available in paperback and E-book, and Story Building Blocks: Build A Cast Workbook available in paperback and E-book.
Physical obstacles prevent movement, communication, access to a person, the retrieval of an object, and necessary exchanges.
Physical distance prevents access which increases tension.
Time limits put the tension level at full throttle.
These are the types of action scenes that leave your readers biting their nails. The harder the task, the greater the anxiety level for the reader.
1. A physical barrier, like having to break into a safe or out of a cell.
This is a key tool in every genre from thriller t0 romance. Yes, romance. In the Outlander series, there are numerous times when Jamie and Claire must rescue one another from captors. And what is a heist movie without obstacles to the theft?
2. A situational barrier, such as trying to enter an area that is off limits.
Whether you character succeeds through sweet talk or stealth, waiting for them to get past this barrier can be funny, thrilling, or heartbreaking.
3. Physical restraints, like being stuck inside a car, plane, or train.
Or trying to break free from handcuffs or a straight jacket. Your character does not have to be a magician to use this tool. They can be tied up or boxed in. Everyone can relate to the need to escape.
4. Missing the target whether it is a boat, train, airplane, or opportunity.
This is another situation your audience can relate to. The nearer the miss, the higher the tension. Will they get another chance or have to find another way?
5. Limited mobility due to a temporary or permanent physical disability.
Self-healing thriller characters aside, when your character is shot, stabbed, or otherwise hobbled, they will have difficulty doing what comes next.
6. Misunderstanding the time frame involved or being given an impossible timeline.
The ticking clock is arguably the most intense tool in the tension toolkit. There must be an "or else" for it to work properly. Nothing is worse than setting a ticking time bomb that doesn't go off.
7. Physical distances that make accomplishing the task difficult or impossible.
Whether you character has to traverse a hall, a flight of stairs, an eighty-story building, or rush from country to country, your readers feed on the the adrenaline rush your character experiences as he tries to accomplish the impossible.
8. Being misled about the correct destination.
Friend or foe, antagonist or love interest, missing the bus gives your readers a feeling of let down. They can relate to that moment when you realize you've taken the wrong turn, the wrong plane, or walked into the wrong bar.
9. Not being able to touch.
Truly, nothing is more agonizing than watching characters who desperately want to touch each other being kept apart. It can be lovers who are forbidden to love, or a mother reaching for a child who is slipping through her hands, literally or figurative. It can be the grieving loved one trying to reach the dead or dying. This tool can gut your reader or fill them with longing.
10. Different places or times.
This tool works best in the science fiction and fantasy realms where characters are literally worlds or time periods apart. From Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series to the movie Somewhere in Time, nothing keeps people apart more effectively than being in different eras. Your characters can be placed in different planets, starships, or fairy realms. Your readers will hang on to find out how they resolve these great distances.For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
By: Diana Hurwitz,
on 3/10/2016
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| WHO'S THE BOSS? |
I have to thank a friend for inspiring this one, though I’ll withhold names to protect the innocent. My friend, let’s call her Jane, works in an office where the boss’s wife comes in periodically to make sure things are done her way. She isn’t actually an employee, nor is she an expert in the business he conducts. She just likes to meddle and throw her weight around to feel powerful.
Tweet: Family run businesses can be an entirely different breed of viper’s nest. #storybuildingblocks #writingtips
Unlike the cogs in the corporate hierarchy that are easily removed and replaced, the family run business is full of emotional landmines.
If Dick’s father is the nominal head of the business, theoretically he should be in charge. But what if he isn’t?
What if Dick’s Mom wears the corporate pantsuit even though she doesn’t actually work there? It will cause aggravation if not outright abuse for all who work for them. It is a very uncomfortable work environment. The rules can be disregarded at whim and the hierarchy ignored when the untitled boss gets involved. The changes she makes are implemented without warning or consideration for those who actually have to show up and do the job every day. They are enforced even though they create headaches for those who have to perform the tasks.
Jane will go to the office every day primed with anxiety. When will the saboteur show up next and what impossible demands will she make? Because the reward system is illogically skewed, Jane won’t be certain that her hard work and dedication will be appreciated, so how hard should she try? Should she stay or go? Depends on her situation and how good the pay and benefits are. How much is Jane willing to sacrifice for material reward when every day feels like a swim in a shark tank? How much abuse is she willing to endure before she quits or pulls out a revolver?
How does the uncertainty affect the son Dick? How frustrated will he grow with his spineless father when he witnesses his mother’s torture of the employees? How firm can he get with his impossible mother? Will Dick grow and learn to stand up for himself against the female bully or will he repeat the enabling pattern?
What if Dick’s sister Sally also works at the firm? They have grown up being pitted against one another. Who is the favorite child for which parent? The dynamics shift depending on the answer. If Dick is Dad’s favorite and Sally is Mom’s favorite, then Dick has a real problem. His succession as head of the business isn’t assured. Mom may choose Sally to take over. If Sally is Dad’s favorite and Dick is Mom’s favorite, then Sally has a problem. She can have Dad wrapped tightly around her little finger, but if Mom wields the power and isn’t too fond of her simpering daughter, Sally is in a no-win situation. If the parents continually play out their antagonism toward one another through their son and daughter the waters get hurricane choppy. If Mom dies, then Dad is free from her oppression and the work environment can become an entirely different place. If Dad dies, and Mom takes over or the business is turned over to Sally instead of Dick, the situation can disintegrate further. If the siblings enter a turf war over it, the conflict heats to a boil.
How many employees will abandon ship? How many will stay? How can the company survive if the internal structure is unstable?
The addition of sibling and parent dynamics to any story situation raises the stakes and changes the playing field significantly.
The conflict could be a mild distraction while Dick is trying to save the planet or find the kidnapped girl.
The conflict could be the core of a literary tale of deadly dysfunction.
The conflict could be the source of an intense thriller or suspense.
The parent/child scenario could be a factor in a YA novel. The parents could be running a gas station, a major corporation, a village, a country, or a wolf pack.
In your story, who is the boss? Who are the powers that be? Who makes the ultimate decisions? The more dysfunctional the situation, the higher the story stakes.
For more on crafting conflict to create tension, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict available in paperback and E-book.
By: Diana Hurwitz,
on 12/30/2015
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Dennis Brown in his book Rule of Life 101 defines the difference between bad choice and a mistake thusly:
“A mistake is innocent, a bad choice is not. A mistake is being completely oblivious to the error being made. An example would be telling someone your name and them pronouncing or spelling it wrong. Or giving someone the wrong phone number because you just got a new number and it slipped your mind. These are examples of mistakes. A bad choice is being totally aware of the error being made and choosing to do it anyway. Say for instance your boyfriend or girlfriend was sleeping with your best friend. A bad choice is knowing something is wrong or hurtful and doing it anyway.”
In any story, the critical turning points are either actions or decisions. Bad choices or actions result in goal failure. Mistakes cause conflict along the way. Take a look at your work-in-progress. Have your characters made bad choices or mistakes? How did they complicate the overall story problem?
If the inciting incident is a bad choice, Dick is forced to take steps to repair it. The key turning points will show the progress toward and steps away from repairing his life, relationship, or situation to the status quo.
If the inciting incident is a mistake, Jane will have to make amends. In the first turning point whatever she has tried doesn’t work. She will have to approach the problem from a new angle. At turning point two, that angle didn’t work either. In fact, Jane compounded the mistake, perhaps by making a second mistake. In the third turning point Jane will realize the right course of action that will restore the story balance. In the climax, she makes amends and all ends happily, usually.
The caution I want to offer is this: it is hard to root for a character that continually makes bad choices and mistakes. One or two sprinkled throughout a story can drive it. However, if the story is riddled with them, it becomes abusive.
I’m reminded of a recent television series I watched. After two seasons with a main character who continually made mistakes and bad choices, there was no growth. He never caught on that he was the problem. It made sense that the series was cancelled.
Make sure your characters are not continually making mistakes and bad choices. People who don’t change make poor protagonists, friends, and lovers. It’s okay for the reader to shout “you idiot” once or twice in a story. However, they are likely to burn the book if it happens in every chapter.
As Dennis Brown concludes: “People’s mistakes should be forgiven, and even some bad choices are forgivable, but consistent bad choices should never be overlooked. Know when enough is enough; if you have no boundaries, people have no reason to respect them. A person can’t respect what’s not there to respect. Whether it’s in a friendship, marriage or business relationship, bad choices that lead to adverse circumstances for you should never be tolerated.”
Even if the characters are fictional.
For more information on using conflict to drive plot, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict, available in paperback and E-book.
By: Diana Hurwitz,
on 11/25/2015
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I have to thank Simon and Garfunkel for this post which was inspired by their song Homeward Bound.
The lyrics go: “I wish I was homeward bound. Home, where my thought's escaping. Home, where my music's playing. Home, where my love lies waiting silently for me.”
Hopefully, his love isn’t lying there silently because she is dead. If so, it would place the story in the mystery or horror category.
For most, the word “home” conjures warmth and belonging, especially during the American holiday of Thanksgiving. Home can be a place where Dick finds nurturance and love. It can be the place where he feels safe in a world gone mad.
Home can be a place that he longs to return to, a situation he longs to build for himself, or a place he needs to run from instead of to.
What kind of place do your characters call home? What lies in wait for Dick when he gets there? Home can remind Dick of all the things he lost or never had. Family get-togethers may be bitter rather than sweet. If a story problem forces Dick to go home, the game begins.
What if home is full of ghosts, personal demons and the walking dead, either literally or figuratively? Home can be full of mildly or severely dysfunctional people. If Dick’s family home or hometown is filled with addicts and felons, then it isn’t the cheery Hallmark scenario everyone imagines.
Going home can be psychologically or physically damaging. Can he tell anyone what home is truly like for him? Not necessarily. Shame is a huge motivating factor. It may keep Dick from telling anyone just how bad home really is. Even if Dick tells, he might be mildly rebuked for being so hard on his nearest and dearest. Surely it can’t be that bad? Except, it is. When his coworkers are rushing home, eager for the weekend or his schoolmates returning home at the end of school term, it can fill Dick with dread.
Coming from a family with something to hide places Dick in a precarious position. Even if he is brilliant and has a laudable talent or amazing skills, he has to be careful to not allow the spotlight to veer in his direction. It might startle the cockroaches from his past and make them frightened, which can make them dangerous.
Home can be a trigger for a recovering Sally. Most characters long for home. If going home puts Sally at risk for a relapse, it may not be the best place to visit. If the dysfunction that exists there is the thing that made her get high or drunk in the first place, the trigger will always be there, waiting like a land mine to blow up in her face. Sally may have to avoid home as much as she craves it. She will have to find a way to build her own home and that is not an easy thing to do. What if Sally feels more at home somewhere else? As much as her friends or other family members may like her, she isn’t really part of their home. Will they make room for her? Can they? Should they? To what extent?
Home can be full of actual ghosts or zombies. That places the story in the paranormal realm. Can Jane tell anyone? Maybe not. If she has to deal with the paranormal element at home while trying to live a normal life outside of it, Jane has serious conflict. Keeping a secret becomes a prison whether Jane is hiding that her Dad is a serial killer or a faerie King. How far is she pushed? Who could she tell? Who would believe her? How could she prove it? Her life is in danger either way.
What if Dick returns home and finds it markedly changed? He can return from college, a trip abroad, or from living on another coast or planet. What if it isn’t what he remembered? Dick may have a hard time reconciling the idealized version of home with the reality. How do the changes make him feel? Have things improved or gotten much worse. Has the town been invaded by trolls? Maybe Sally and Jane don’t remember things in quite the same way. Maybe Dick is forced to face a completely different “truth” about the way things were. The story can review all the things he thought he remembered and offer a completely different twist.
A fully drawn hero has both a home life and a work life. It’s important to give your reader a glimpse into both. It is unbalanced when we are presented with characters that are never at home or never at work. We don’t need to see every little thing they do at either location, but it helps to understand them if we see how the character operates in both worlds. They are defined by how they navigate the tricky waters both inside and outside the family.
For more on crafting conflict to create tension, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict available in paperback and E-book.
By: Diana Hurwitz,
on 11/20/2015
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Denial is an subconscious defense mechanism. When you ask a two-year old if he took a cookie from the jar (and he knows he will get in trouble for it), he denies it.
Characters deny things for complex reasons: to protect themselves, to protect people they love, to dodge a painful truth, or to deflect blame or suspicion.
When confronted with an internal dilemma or overall story problem, Dick (the protagonist) can choose to accept something or not oppose it at first. He may deny that aliens have landed or that his wife has lost that loving feeling. He may deny that he has cancer. As events unfold, Dick is eventually forced to accept it.
When confronted by information that counters his belief system or faith in someone, a character’s first response is usually denial. Many stories center on his journey as he struggles to accept the truth.
Dick may deny that he is the only one who can stand up to an injustice or a bully, but the overall story problem forces him to do so.
Jane (as antagonist) can see that her plan is failing and refuse to accept it. The reader will be thrilled that she failed.
Dick (as protagonist) can refuse to accept that his cause is lost and push on until he wins. The reader will be elated when he succeeds.
If Jane refuses to believe that Sally is dying, she may plan vacations and purchase air tickets that will never be used. She may insist on trying every far-fetched “miracle cure” on the market while Sally tries to bring Jane back to acceptance that the end is nigh.
Friends and foes chiming in on the issues make the story problem more difficult for the protagonist to succeed and the antagonist to fail. Their own acceptance or denial can create obstacles.
Friends and foes can continue to deny that vampires exist or a friend’s spouse is cheating even when they see the cheaters together.Friends and foes can deny they were at the crime scene, withholding critical information either out of fear or out of malice.
Denial creates conflict and tension as the reader waits for it to resolve. You can use this tactic to drive the story at scene and overall story levels.
To learn how obstacles create conflict for your characters, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict, available in paperback and E-book.
Which works better, the carrot or the stick? Most writers understand using objectives to encourage characters. However, you can also use tactics to discourage your characters.
Children learn early that behaviors have consequences. Too much reward and too little punishment creates a spoiled brat. Too much punishment and not enough reward and they end up with poor boundaries and a tolerance for abuse or they become rigid and a bully. The people surrounding the antagonist are usually one or the other. This can be a mild factor in a family dynamic or the dynamic between a mob boss and his cronies.
Dick may ask for a cookie. If mom says no, he might cry. This ploy might work or it might result in having to sit time out for five minutes. A child learns to read the people around him and use the methods that work to get what he wants. Characters in your story are the same. People generally do things only if they work. If something stops working for them, they change tactics. Your protagonist will use a variety of methods to gain what he needs. When his tactics don’t work, he is forced to change them until he finds the one that does.
If Jane asks Dick to do something and it is within the realm of what he is willing or able to do, or if it will give him a payoff of some kind (the pleasure of Jane’s company, the pleasure of an activity they both enjoy), Dick will agree immediately. They will continue to talk about it, plan for it, or commit to a date. Dick may have a busy schedule and have to check his calendar or see how much his budget will tolerate. However, his immediate response will be positive: “I’d love to. Let me check my calendar and we’ll go from there.” And he does check and gets back to Jane within a day or so.
When Dick consciously, or subconsciously, does not want to do something, he will make outlandish excuses and the justifications fly. Dick will squirm and hedge. He will say things like “Can’t afford it” or “Don’t have time right now.” However, Dick’s excuse is patently false. He really does not want to fulfill the request. He is hesitant to come right out and say so for fear of hurting Jane’s feelings, inconveniencing her, or making himself look or feel bad. The list of justifications will expand and mutate as Jane points out flaws in his logic by saying things like, “but we can afford it” or “I’ll pay for it.” Dick will be driven to even more flights of fancy to excuse his reluctance. These conversations rarely end well.
When Jane asks Dick to do something he does not want to do, his body stiffens. His thoughts skid. It takes a few seconds to come up with a justification. If Dick is an introvert, he might do this if you ask him to speak in public. If he is an extrovert, he might do this if it sounds confining, restrictive, or boring.
Dick will do this whenever he does not want to go somewhere, meet someone, engage in an unpleasant activity, or spend time with a person he dislikes. It isn’t politically correct to say, “I don’t want to go because I loathe your brother.” He may be completely unaware that his internal resistance is because he hates Jane’s brother. Instead of analyzing his reaction, Dick will simply reach for excuses such as work, conflicting plans, or the last ditch cure-all, “I don’t feel well,” to avoid the event or avoid fulfilling Jane’s request.
A people-pleasing Jane will immediately respond “yes” to every request Dick makes then have to wriggle and squiggle her way out of it. It can be entertaining to watch. She says, “Yes.” Her mind registers the negative aspects. Her body clenches as thoughts swirl while she figures a way out of it: “Well, what I mean is,” or “I’ll have to check,” or “I’ll have to look at my schedule and let you know.” It is guaranteed Jane will find a conflicting engagement or other rationale to escape the obligation. If Dick persists, Jane will likely toss out the “I don’t feel well” card. Who can argue with the flu and a temperature of 105?
A rigid Sally will automatically answer “no.” She may create problems for herself by saying “no.” She may come back and try to accommodate the request, but that is rare. Rigid characters rarely reconsider anything.
A middle of the road Sally who initially says “no” may go home and feel guilty. She may worry that she’ll look bad if she doesn’t fulfill the request. She may worry about hurting Jane’s feelings. Sally will find a sudden opening in her schedule or a miracle cure for the flu that permits her to do it.
Pit a character that needs something against a character with any of these responses and you have subtle conflict at scene level. They make uneasy allies. They make complicated lovers. They make irritating family members and coworkers.
You can use the conflict of repulsion in many ways at any story level in any genre.
For more information on using obstacles to create tension in your fiction, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict in paperback or E-book.
Most stories hinge on the question of attraction versus repulsion. A protagonist is either kept from achieving something he really wants to achieve or works to prevent something he can’t allow.
There are many motivators both tangible and intangible. They can be a desired object, a position, a return favor, praise, time spent together, a puppy, or promise of a leisure activity.
The reward can be immediate or in the future. Too far in the future and both reward and punishment lose their impact. That is why the story and scene stakes should be more immediate.
The reward must also be meaningful to a character. We are all motivated by different things. We all like and need different things.
If you promise an introvert a party or a starring role in a play, she will most likely walk away.
If you promise an extrovert a week alone on a tropical island, he will likely decline unless the island has buried treasure.
Most of your characters, at some point, will do something either out of hope of reward or fear of punishment.
Dick might work toward solving the story problem out of hope of reward. He will gain something he very much wants: the girl, the job, the presidency or world peace.
Sally might work toward the story or scene goal out of fear of punishment or retaliation by an angry parent, aliens or an evil mob boss.
There are many types of rewards: self esteem, the esteem of others, connection, friendship, money, position, power, fame, or an adrenaline rush.
The most powerful is financial gain. Characters are willing to dress up in costumes and act silly to gain money. They are willing to stand out in the rain with a sign and beg for it.
If Dick is in debt, he may be willing to lie, cheat, steal and kill to get money. Money encourages characters to gamble, to invest in risky stocks, to commit murder in a Mystery. It can also motivate a child to do his chores or a worker to try harder to get a raise.
If Dick values esteem over money and offering to pay him doesn’t work, offering to publically praise him will.
Jane may resist the goal because she does not want the reward, strange as that may sound. Offer Jane the carrot of something she does not want, and you have the opposite effect than the one you desired. Offer Jane a punishment she’d enjoy and you’ve failed again.
If Jane hates being the center of attention, offering her the spotlight will send her running in the opposite direction.
If Sally prefers vanilla over chocolate, Dick giving her a Whitman’s Sampler for Valentine’s Day won’t earn him brownie points. Baking her chocolate chip cookies instead of sugar cookies won't convince her to do her homework.
Telling Dick he’ll have to stay home with Grandma while his parents go on vacation to Amish Country to shop for antiques won’t exactly break his heart, especially if Grandma is the cookie baking, curfew-ignoring type.
If Dick offers Jane a reward that she considers a punishment, they have conflict. Lets say, Dick suggests they go a Bed & Breakfast for the weekend. Jane might say yes or she might say no. Jane may love B&Bs, but she isn’t feeling particularly fond of Dick at the moment, so she refuses. Going might heal their relationship, but Jane meets internal resistance at the idea of being alone with Dick, so she declines the offer. She will come up with justifications as to why: too much work, conflicting meeting, too exhausted and wants to stay home in her jammies. Jane might agree to go but the confinement of the B&B causes them to fight rather than make up and Dick gets the opposite of what he hoped for. Jane can give in and go and end up having a good time, thus getting the result Dick hoped for but Jane didn't think possible.
If Dick and Jane are forced to work together to solve a mystery, Dick might agree because he loves a good puzzle. Jane might hate puzzle solving but agree because Dick appeals to her sense of justice or fair play. She might be secretly in love with Dick and covet time with him.
If Sally is secretly hoping for an engagement ring for Christmas and Dick buys her a diamond watch, she still received diamonds, just not the diamonds she was hoping for. Dick's next request will most likely be met with resistance if not refusal.
This type of conflict can play out among any set of characters be they friends, relatives, lovers, coworkers, etc. Characters tend to buy gifts, plan vacations, throw parties, arrange date activities and select movies for the weekend based on their wants, needs and personal preferences. This almost always causes conflict unless the two people are entirely in sync with each other in that regard.
Dick may plan a day at the football game, while Sally would rather stay home and watch a Jane Austen marathon. Okay, maybe that's just me, but the point is made.
Jane may plan a surprise party for Dick at work. If Dick hates being the center of attention or if he is trying to pull off a covert action, he will not be happily surprised by the party. It may make his scene goal much harder than he ever thought possible.
If a group of friends decides to go scuba diving in the Florida Keys for the weekend and Jane is either afraid of water or afraid of sharks, she'll refuse to go. No matter how many rewards Sally offers her (free margaritas all weekend, Jimmy Buffett playing at a local bar, lots of hot guys in skimpy bathing suits), none of that will matter to Jane. She could agree to go to the Keys but not scuba dive. The rest of the pack will consider her a wet blanket and refuse to pay for the drinks or refuse to go to the Buffett Concert in retaliation. Or they could enjoy her company so much that they don't care if she joins them in the ocean, as long as she goes along for the trip. If the reward of her company is alluring enough, they might offer to pay for the trip if Jane can't afford it.
Place characters with opposing ideas of reward in a relationship or in a scene and you have conflict.
Next week, we will explore the conflict of repulsion.
For more on using obstacles to create tension in your fiction, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict in paperback or E-book.
If a bomb goes off in your plot and no one reacts, what's the point?
A friend of mine uses the term “push back," in her critiques. What it means is something of merit happens or is said and none of the characters respond. The action or dialogue goes unchallenged and the scene contains no conflict: huge plot hole.
During a recent encounter with a stubborn two-year-old, I knew exactly what she meant. The conversation went something like this:
“Ava, Granny has to go into her room for a minute.”
"No.”
“Yes, I do. You can hold my hand or I can pick you up, which would you prefer?” (I like to give toddlers options. It makes them feel like they have a modicum of control.)
“No.”
“Take my hand.”
"No.”
“Okay, the hard way.” I picked her up. She pushed back by whining the entire time we were in the room. Little Ava didn’t get her way and she was not happy about it. She let me know it, for five minutes straight, while banging her Barbie doll’s head on everything she came in contact with.
Don’t make things too easy for Sally, Dick, and Jane. Make sure other characters balk, impede, cop an attitude, and show their displeasure. Make them react. Get inside each character's head. What are they thinking and feeling in the scene?
Too often secondary characters' motivations are lost when writing from one character's POV. Just because they aren't the focus, doesn't mean they don't have thoughts, feelings, wants, needs, schedules, and goals of their own.
If Dick forces Jane to go somewhere she doesn’t want to go, talk to someone she does not want to talk to, or perform an act she’d rather not, have her refuse or retaliate.
What will Jane do to make him regret forcing her hand? It may not happen right away. Dick might not feel the push for an hour, a day, or a week. Dick makes Jane do something. She forces him to pay for it later by making him do or say something or go somewhere he doesn’t want to. If Jane complies and fulfills Dick’s request, she might push back right away then emphasize her point again later.
They start off having the above sort of conversation:
“Jane, we’ve been invited to Sally and Ted’s for a party.”
“No freaking way.”
"Ted is my boss.”
“I’d rather crawl in a sewer and collect Bubonic-plagued rats.”
“Attendance isn't optional.”
“Your problem, not mine.”
"He expects you to come with me.”
“Fine, I’ll go, but I’ll need a new Coach purse and new heels and a new dress.”
This is the immediate push back. Jane hits Dick in his credit card.
The night arrives, dinner ensues, and Jane ruins the evening by discussing Bubonic-plagued rat hairs found in a caterer’s food at a previous party. That is push back. She might give Dick a break and tell the hideous hostess that it wasn’t her caterer – of course – but one can never be too careful.
Dick forces her to leave the party early, which makes Jane very happy. In retribution, he will offer a little push back of his own. When Jane asks him to go to her mother’s house for dinner, he can reply, “I’d rather crawl in a sewer and eat Bubonic-plagued rats.”
The game is on.
To learn more about using obstacles to create conflict in your fiction, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict, available in paperback and E-book.
When someone we care about goes missing, there is conflict. It could be a mysterious disappearance, a runaway, a kidnapping, or a death.
Abandonment wounds can lower Jane's self-esteem. It can color how she interacts with the world. It can make her more sensitive to someone’s absence. A child whose parent is absent or abandons them can become clingy. It can make Jane a suffocating friend or lover. It can make Sally an overprotective parent. It could make Dick assume that everyone leaves so why try to connect? On the flip side, it can inspire Jane to be a better parent, friend, or lover to compensate for what she didn't have.
Abandonment strikes a person all the way to the core. It is a trigger that, even if dealt with, remains. It doesn't take much to set it off. If Jane's father abandoned her, she won't be able to view fathers and daughters on television or out in the park without feeling a twinge of loss. Jane might be jealous of a step-sibling who has a father but doesn't appreciate it. She might be jealous of a friend's relationship with their father. In a thriller or paranormal tale, it can inspire Jane to usurp the friend's place. Jane may avoid relationships because she can't handle the possibility of being left again. She may avoid having children. Her husband or boyfriend might not understand. Mother hunger works the same way.
What if Jane found the parent that gave her away only to learn the parent was a serial killer? It would make a terrific suspense thriller. Jane could find out that the parent was simply an ordinary broken person who lacked the ability to love another in a healthy way and she was better off without the parent. This would make a touching literary tale with a down ending.
If Jane disappears, Dick will take steps to find her and won’t keep hoping or trying until he is successful. Dick will go to any lengths to regain someone he has lost. It can be a friend, lover, child or parent. The more personal the connection, the higher the stakes become. Each layer of separation from the protagonist and the stakes become diluted, unless the person they have to find can save the world. Add a ticking clock and you are at thriller level. The obstacles are in trying to get them back.
Getting them back can create new conflicts. Dick can get Jane back and it all ends happily. He can get Jane back and find she has changed. Dick can find out Jane didn’t want to be found. You can twist this plot in many ways in every genre.
Attempting to locate someone who has died makes a great overall story problem in a Horror or Paranormal Fantasy novel. It can also be used at scene level. If Jane needs to talk to someone and can’t find them, she will be unable to achieve her scene goal. If someone disappears in the middle of a scene, she has conflict. She is either forced to give up the scene goal to look for them or muddle on without them.
If a Jane takes her child into a store and the child decides to play hide and seek, Jane has conflict. If she is trying to overcome a scene obstacle, little Sally's stunt will make Jane's goal that much harder to overcome. If little Sally has been snatched by kidnappers, Jane has an overall story problem.
You could argue the thematic statement that absence makes the heart grow fonder. The flip side is to argue that it doesn’t make the heart grow fonder. Absence makes you realize you don’t really need or want the person after all.
What if Dick chased the one that got away only to find out he didn't like them? That would make a fun romantic plot, providing the right girl was there all along. Dick could pine for an old girlfriend, see her in passing and realize she isn’t as attractive as he remembered, or that she is now a centerfold model. This could be used in a literary tale about a marriage gone stale.
At scene level, an inspector can locate a suspect and realize the suspect is innocent. He must abandon theory one and investigate theory two. The inspector can be haunted by a partner that left without explanation. He can be haunted by a missing person case he did not solve.
In any genre, Dick can be abandoned by someone in a crowded park or building or left on planet Zircon to solve the situation by himself. It will frustrate, if not panic, him.
You can play abandonment in a different way. If extroverted Dick takes introverted Jane to a party and goes off to talk to other people all night, Jane will feel abandoned. She might get mad. She might leave. She might hold it against him for a really long time. The next time he asks her for something, she will refuse. She might deliver verbal zingers until he finally asks why she is being so mean.
If Dick and Jane fly to Africa for a safari and Dick disappears, Jane has a massive problem. She has to find Dick or face the possibility of returning to America without him. Finding someone in a foreign country is a difficult thing to do, particularly when their laws, society, and language are foreign to you.
Abandonment is a terrific theme and overall story problem. It adds poignancy to a love story or motivates a character at scene level. Being alone, even in a crowd, is a universal fear that everyone can tap into.
For more about using obstacles to create tension in your fiction, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict in print or E-book.
There are many types of absence: voluntary, forced, temporary, perceived, sporadic, and permanent. Wherever there is absence, there is conflict. Let’s examine ways in which absences can be dramatic, frightening, thrilling, or funny.
The absence of a loved one can create pathos, longing, and sadness. When a loved one leaves temporarily or permanently, it leaves a vacuum that needs to be filled. It may not be filled with healthy endeavors, or the absence can open a door to new opportunities.Absence can cause a momentary annoyance at scene level. Jane had plans to go somewhere with Sally or Dick, but had to cancel. Dick and Sally choose to go together without her. Jane is then wounded because she is so easily replaced. If Jane cancels frequently, then she is no longer considered trustworthy. Dick and Sally might exclude her from future plans and it will make Jane angry.
Voluntary absence from work creates headaches for coworkers. If Dick calls in sick, his work is not getting done. Someone else has to temporarily pick up the slack. He might go to extravagant lengths to hide the fact that he wasn’t really sick. If Jane sees him in town during her lunch hour, he will have to explain his absence. He will either tell the truth or lie. If Jane has it in for him, she will enjoy exposing him and Dick is forced to come up with a deterrent fast. He may agree to do something for Jane he does not want to do. He may take over an assignment for her. She might make him give up his parking spot.
It keeps the plot moving when a scene is resolved in a way that creates a new and more difficult goal. Once Dick has lied to Jane, he will have to maintain the lie. Lies lead to more lies. Dick might have called off to spend one last day with his dying mother. He might have called off to help someone track down a terrorist cell. He might have called off to go to a job interview for a new job. At the end of the day, he will either succeed at hiding his reason for calling off or admit that he was playing hooky. It could be comedic, thrilling or tragic. The reason he called off can be momentous, silly, or simply that he was tired and needed to recharge his mental battery. His absence can have profound consequences or barely make a ripple in the story overall, depending on what you need it to do.At the scene level, Dick could leave the room and give Jane an opportunity to replace or remove something. When he returns, he can notice that his desk has been disturbed. He can either mention it or wait until Jane leaves to search his office. He might shrug his suspicion off, leaving the clue to raise its head later in the story. He might keep tearing his desk apart until he finds the bug or realizes an important file is missing.Dick could leave the scene of an accident and create a story problem, or a complication to solving the story goal that comes back and bites him later. His reasons can be unthinking, an attempt to protect himself, or malicious.Dick leaves a bad date at a restaurant because it was easier to disappear than tell the girl her laugh made him cringe. When he runs into his hapless date later, it will be awkward. If she turns out to be his boss’s daughter, it gets extremely awkward. If he has to work with her, it becomes horribly uncomfortable. If he finds out she is a werewolf, he is in danger.
A character can be voluntarily absent from a conversation, a room, a building, a job, or a planet. There are multiple outcomes to a voluntary absence, but at some point the person typically returns.
Jane jetting off to Aruba without Dick for a month in an attempt to “find herself” creates an overall story problem. When Jane reappears, Dick can be happy about it, unhappy about it or have mixed emotions. Jane’s return can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you want to play it and the genre of your story.
In a romance with the typical happy ending, Dick and Jane will overcome the conflicts her voluntary absence and subsequent return create and live happily ever after.
In a literary tale, Jane can return, find out nothing has changed and realize she should have stayed in Aruba with the cabana boy. Dick and Jane can desire to come together again, but realize they really don’t work as a couple, ending on a sad note.
In a mystery or thriller, Jane can return and Dick realizes he preferred life without her. He takes steps to make her absence permanent so he can keep Jane’s inheritance.
Let’s say Jane returned from Aruba after finishing a work assignment that lasted a month or a year. She can return to a spouse, a friend, a child, her parents, a house, a neighborhood, or a job. Her return will affect all of them. Life continued to move on while she was gone. Her return will force her to renegotiate all of her relationships. Friendships and alliances shift over time. Jane’s return can spark jealousy or ignite buried resentment. It can result in renewed love or friendships. The obstacles Jane faces are in trying to fit in again, to redefine her place in the lives she left behind.
Jane might have to move back in with her parents or have her ailing parents move in with her. It can spark a battle of wit and wills. The situation could be comedic, tragic or a sweet literary story of acceptance. This makes a terrific overall story problem or personal dilemma for a protagonist.
Jane might find the balance of power in the company shifted in her absence. She will have to redefine her place in the pecking order. Her coworkers might not appreciate her return, or they might celebrate it because the person who took her place was a jerk.
There are many fun and poignant ways to play with absences.
For more information on using obstacles to create tension, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict in print or E-book.
No one likes feeling trapped and the desire to escape is an intense motivator and speaks to a universal need for safety. Readers root for characters to escape catastrophic or horrific danger. By limiting the psychological or physical boundaries, you increase the boiling point of your story cauldron by making it impossible for your characters to walk away.
There are obvious ways to use physical confinement: remote locations or being trapped inside burning a building, speeding train, or airplane. Characters may have to escape an asylum, a prison, a sinking ship, or a dying planet. At scene level, they may have to overcome other obstacles such as manacles or laser alarm systems or crawl through tight tunnels. Life or death stakes ratchet up the tension. Add a ticking clock, and you’ve escalated the conflict to Thriller level.
But let's step outside obvious physical limiations to look at a few examples where confinement is psychological. Emotional life and death stakes can be just as effective.
Dick might need to escape from a confining belief system, societal rules, or cult. This type of conflict fuels many dystopian and Science Fiction plot lines. It also works in literary and coming of age stories. She might literally have to escape to save her life or the lives of others.
Sally can be confined by a family, a tribe, or a gang. The situation can be an abusive or an intolerable person she needs to flee from. She may simply need to escape to pursue the career she loves or marry the man of her dreams.
Confinement can force a character to deal with a person or situation because they can’t escape from them.
Dick can feel trapped in an airplane seat. Add an obnoxious rowmate and his discomfort increases. Replace the obnoxious stranger with an angry spouse and your characters are strapped in for a few hours of heated debate or icy silence.
Being confined in a car can have the same effect. Characters often have intense and important conversations while strapped inside. Being confined in a train, elevator, or waiting room can provide Dick with ample time to think something through as well.
Dick might want to break free of romantic relationship or marriage. Depending on his personality type and childhood wounds, he might find commitment suffocating. It can be as simple as Dick not liking that his romantic options have narrowed or been eliminated, so he refuses to propose to a girl he loves. He’ll live with her but he doesn’t like the prison bars that marriage suggests.
If Jane sees marriage as a desirable bond, a sign that Dick values their relationship and promises to always have her back, she won’t understand his reluctance. This provides terrific tension in a romance or romantic subplot. Dick and Jane, as well as the supporting cast, can argue whether marriage entraps or frees them. Dick can overcome his internal resistance and give in. Dick and Jane can agree that their commitment to each other is more important than the piece of paper. Or, their differing belief systems and needs are a deal breaker and they end the relationship.
Sally might want to break free of a confining friendship. If Sally is the type of easy-breezy personality that loves to be around lots of people and considers twenty people her best friend, she might befriend Jane who values one tight, soul-sister over lesser acquaintances. Confine these two in an apartment or a college dorm and the conflict increases. Whether physically confined or emotionally confined, their differing needs and definitions of loyalty and trust provide obstacles to continuing their friendship. It can be explored in a sweet literary story about why friendships fail. Jane could cause problems for Sally, the protagonist, in other genres as Sally negotiates her exacting friend’s emotional neediness while solving an unrelated story problem. This claustrophobic dynamic has been explored in horror films about scary roommates, but it can also factor in virtually any plot line. Pairing friends with differing connection needs creates believable conflict.
Jane might want to escape a confining job. She may be afraid to leave a lucrative career but imprisoned by the monotony or lack of challenge. She may love the job but hate her boss or coworkers. The entrapment will either force to her make a life changing career move or renegotiate her reality within the confines of her job.
Family get togethers are rarely the love-fests featured in the sweet family stories of long ago. Reunions are hot beds of festering unmet needs and resentments. Personalities clash and clang and grate, fomenting snide remarks and truth-revealing tirades. The quickest way to exit an undesirable family event is for your character to make statements they know will stir the family pot and storm out during the ensuing verbal brawl. An investigator might stir the pot to get a suspect to reveal himself.
If going home feels like entering a prison, Jane isn’t going to enjoy going there for a holiday meal, much less a week. She may be forced to return home to take care of an ailing parent. The situation makes her feel like she is being strangled, particularly if irritating siblings insist on visiting. Emotional bombs will burst.
Setting and situation choices can force your character to make decisions or take actions they otherwise would ignore. As the character's social, psychological, or physical noose tightens, the reader's tension grows along with it and they keep turning the page to relieve their own anxiety.
For more ways to utilize obstacles to create tension in your fiction, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict in print or E-book version.
Earliest man lived in small tribes. With fewer people, they relied on each other more. Such is the stuff of Historicals, Westerns, and Literary pioneer stories. When people died, especially in large numbers due to disease, famine, or drought, it preyed on the survivors' mortal fear of being alone. These stakes can heighten a story problem or create a scene conflict.
If the population of a planet is dying, Dick has an overall story problem.
If Jane feels alone in her marriage, she has a personal dilemma or overall story problem.
The situation in a dark, spooky mansion is heightened if Dick is alone, as would a perfectly normal forest. A planet would be terrifying if he was the only surviving astronaut.
The smaller the population, the higher the stakes of survival and the more claustrophobic the situation becomes. Put Dick in a city of a thousand people and he can easily get lost in the throng. That makes a good Mystery. Putting ten people in a space station makes a great Science Fiction story. Killing them off one by one makes a great Thriller or Horror story. Post apocalyptic stories explore our fear of being alone and the desire for survivors to find one another. Science Fiction stories explore our desire to not be alone in the universe.
On a personal level, most of us prefer to live with someone. A few thrive on the freedom of living alone.
How far is Jane willing to go to feel connected? Jane may marry someone she does not love, become friends with someone she wouldn’t otherwise, build a robot so she has a companion, join an organization she does not agree with, or draw a face on a football so she has someone to talk to on a deserted island.
How far is Dick willing to go to live alone? He might rent a cabin in the Dakota badlands or buy an island and find out he needs people after all.
Characters who are hurt by something or someone often withdraw from the people around them. Some do it for a week, others a month, at the most extreme end they withdraw from life entirely.
At the scene level Dick may need to be alone to accomplish something but all his well-meaning friends keep dropping by to chat.
Dick may momentarily find himself in an empty house, which creates the perfect opportunity for the ghost to visit.
Isolation adds an element of creepiness to any situation. It is a keystone of Horror stories. The characters must be trapped in a building, a city or on a planet from which there is no escape, so they must turn and face the horror instead of run away from it.
Isolation is critical in a Gothic novel for the same reason. The hapless governess cannot simply walk away from the creepy plantation house. She can’t board a bus or walk into a Starbucks. She can’t have a cell phone – not one that works anyway – or call a cab. She needs to be isolated so that she is forced to unravel the mystery or uncover the secret instead of running away at the first sign of trouble.
Isolation is also a key component of YA because so many teens feel isolated: from their family, their peers, their world. Isolation leads to depression and anxiety and feelings of low self-esteem. The character can realize they aren’t alone after all. They can graduate high school and find their “soul mate” friends in college. They can leave their all-Caucasian neighborhood to live in a predominantly Hispanic one and find themselves at home, or find the new community has its share of issues to contend with.
In a Literary story, Sally might embrace her mid-life crisis by selling up and moving to a house in Italy only to realize the locals don’t want her there. All that high life and camaraderie she expected are denied her. The doors remain shut but the curtains are pulled to the side so they can spy on her. Sally sits in her wilting, rustic money pit an unscrupulous salesman talked her into and realizes she should have stayed at home. It was boring but people liked and accepted her there. If murders start happening, it could become a Mystery and Sally the sleuth forced to solve them. In a Thriller, someone could want her to leave their family home and she becomes the target.
In a Romance, the opposite could happen. Sally could feel isolated in her home town because all of her friends have moved away or moved on. Her family might not be supportive or emotionally connected. She kicks the traces and runs off to a charming seaside cottage in Ireland and finds the circle of friends she desperately needed and a lad with a charming brogue to keep her warm at night.
If Sally’s best friend is moving away, in a sense abandoning her, the situation can cause subtle conflict as Sally attempts to overcome the overall story problem or a momentary distraction at scene level.
You can use isolation to fuel any genre at any story level.
For more obstacles that create conflict, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict in print or E-book version.
Alliances can drag characters into gangs, criminal activities, and wars. Many tales hinge on divided alliances. Loyalty is often tested.
Members feel they belong to their religious congregations and sports teams. Citizens feel they belong to their city, state, or country. Plots can turn when the governing bodies of those organizations, cities, states, or countries place unreasonable demands on the characters they feel they “own.”
Organizations can be benevolent or menacing.
Dick can force others to belong to his group. He can try to escape a group. Dick can be shunned, punished, or murdered if he attempts to leave a group.
Jane may be willing to lie, cheat, steal, or kill to belong to an exclusive club.
Sally can behave in ways that are detrimental in order to “belong.” She will accept unpleasant circumstances and tolerate unpleasant people in an attempt to “fit in.”
How far is Sally willing to go to belong to, or escape from, a group? This can make a taut Thriller.
If Jane joins a group or club and that group or club starts taking over her life, she has an overall story problem and the situation creates conflict for everyone around her: coworkers, family, spouse, and children.
If a teenaged Sally is desperate to fit into a clique at school, you have another overall story problem. She might humiliate and harm herself to be included. Cliques aren’t limited to high school. They surrounded royalty, emperors, prophets, politicians, actors, and rock stars.
Children feel they belong to their parents, family, or clan. If parents, families, or clans feel they own family members and can tell them what to do and how to live their lives, you have conflict. Perceived ownership can serve as an antagonist motive in a Romance or serve as the basis for a Literary novel.
Lovers feel they belong to each other. If a lover takes the concept of ownership too far, it makes a good Thriller & Suspense problem, a woman in peril novel, or the motive in a Mystery novel.
Devices such as the need to join or the need to break free can be used at the scene level.
Dick may be wrestling with divided loyalties: go to a cousin’s wedding or beg off to chase a clue or meet his dream girl at a public appearance she is making. It also works as an antagonist’s scene dilemma. He can be a mob boss whose presence is expected at a meeting with his second and third in command, but his instincts tell him something is up and that a bust will go down, so he squiggles out of it or does not show up. His minions will not be happy.
Dick’s religious beliefs may keep him from taking a necessary action at scene level. He can wrestle with whether or not it is okay to make an exception, just this once.
Dick may be sick of the idiots populating his tennis club, so he does something to overcome a scene obstacle that will result in his expulsion. The scene accomplished two things: freed him of the ties that were choking him and gained him the clue, evidence, knowledge, etc. that he needed to overcome the scene goal. A further complication could be that those idiots like him so much they ignore the infraction. Dick will have to come up with an even bigger violation to earn his freedom.
This conflict works in any genre. For these and other obstacles that create conflict, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict in print or E-book version.
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