What happens if you have two things—or two facets of a character’s personality—that are equally important to the protagonist but conflict with each other?
We could use the tug between a character’s work and his family—and a character who loves both things equally. Suddenly we increase his work demands and his family needs simultaneously. How will he respond? What kinds of choices will he make and how will it change the plot? Maybe he misses his shot at promotion when he spends more time at home? What does that do to him?
We could invent an obsessively neat character who is always perfectly polite. Then we could dump a freeloading, messy, down-on-his-luck relative on him.
One of my neuroses is my punctuality. I have to be on time. My daughter just got the role of the White Rabbit in “Alice in Wonderland” and I burst out laughing—the White Rabbit should be my avatar in life. I also want to do a Good Job with everything I take on. So where does the need to be punctual and turn a project in conflict with my desire to have it be as perfect as possible?
How do our characters handle this stress? How does it affect their decision-making?
So we can personalize the torture we’re putting our characters through. What are these characters like? What do they need? Do they need two things—and what if these needs conflict with each other?
What matters most to our characters and how can we threaten it?
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21 comments:
Great post! Of course, that is THE duty of the writer - threatening the characters' peace of mind.
Of course, we also get to hand them the strength of character to handle it. And we can give them gifts of things they never thought possible in reward too.
It's fun being a goddess.
Enjoyed the post. Seeing that conflict in characters makes for a most interesting read. I think that's one thing that helps holds the reader's attention.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Elizabeth - This is a really interesting question: What can we do to put our characters in conflict and into a "tug of war?" I can think of dozens of examples of this, too, where the character's faced with a conflict between her or his job and personal loyalties. For instance, in Agatha Christie's One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, Poirot ends up having to be responsible for the arrest of a murderer he actually doesn't want to arrest. Interesting conflict...
Excellent question, not only for my characters but for me to ask myself.
I love the idea of needing two things, but making a decision. Somewhere in between the need and the decision lies a wonderful tension.
~ Wendy
Really good post. You could also take this idea and apply it to little things in the character's life. For example, I straighten the kitchen before going to bed, yet I wake to find coffee cups turned upside down and left in the sink. Makes me nuts, when the dishwasher is right beside the sink and there's a spray nozzle to rinse the coffee out of the sink.
Little things can grate a character.
Helen
Straight From Hel
When writing my book, one of the main characters has two needs, but he doesn't want to acknowledge one of them. It takes him a while to realize that to achieve one, he must fulfill both needs.
Since my books are about life, I just keep throwing life twists at my characters!
The Daring Novelist--We have to torture them...if their life was all sunshine and light then we wouldn't have a story! :) We *are* goddesses, aren't we? In that realm, anyway!
Mason--Because hopefully the reader feels some of that conflict and tension, too.
Margot--I'd forgotten that! Yes, I remember that, now--the pull between doing his job and what he actually felt was the right course of action.
Wendy--You're so right--and the tension can be really powerful.
Helen--Ha! My husband does the same thing. :) Yes, it's the little things in life that really cause us stress.
Alex--I like that! So one has a secret, or suppressed need. Even more conflict!
Diane--Because that's what life is all about!
It's all about the conflict, isn't it? It needs to be push-pull all the way. And in romance, you get the push-pull between the characters as well, which adds yet another layer.
I think I need to adopt the White Rabbit as my Avatar as well. I am compulsively early - always have been. I'm working on making that compulsively on time at least, not early. One of these days I'll make it appoint to arrive late on purpose. That would be a breakthrough. Great thoughts on incorporating tugging into characterization and plot.
Karen
Ouch - you gave me a brain ache. Lots to think about here. Great post.
Terry--Romance has a LOT of that, doesn't it? And lots of internal conflict, which is always interesting.
Karen--Ohhhh...the number of times I get somewhere early and twiddle my thumbs! Bleh. I usually end up writing then while I wait on whatever it is to start.
Carol--Thanks! :)
First, I have to say I love the picture! Tenniel's illustrations are classic. Second, your post has given me real food for thought - inner conflict can be as interesting as outer conflict. It also opens the door to some very nice comedic possibilities; always a win for me.
I like it when you're evil (torturing characters, that is). I like to throw things at characters that threaten their meta-theories of how the world works. I think you've got a great point though, that more concrete, tangible conflicts increase the tension... I'm going to have to keep this one in my tool chest...
Escellent questions posed, and thinking them through carefully cannot do anything but help a writer.
Good post. Developing tension within a single character is very challenging but once we do it, it's quite rewarding to see how it pushes the story along.
Elspeth--Definitely! Great opportunity for humor because we're in the character's head and we know they can't STAND such-and-so and there they are subjected to it...and suffering. It can be a funny thing...
Hart--Bwahahaha! (My attempt at an evil laugh.) :)
It always interests me in the newspaper that many of the local murders result from (relatively) small conflicts. I think some small things can just grate (and grate and grate) on certain people until they act out.
Thanks, Marvin!
E. Elle--One of those areas where the work is ultimately worth it! But it's a lot on the front end of the project...
I never thought of myself as a torturer before, but I guess I am. I forced my character to change her life when all she wanted to do was maintain the status quo!)
By the way, I saw your blog listed in the Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers. Way to go!
Jane--Thanks! I keep hearing that I'm on the Writer's Digest list...but the page doesn't pull up for me! I'll have to go looking for it, I think.
Great post! I hadn't thought about the little things that can cause so much conflict.
Thanks for coming by, Deb!
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