So, we have a conflict (want vs obstacle), an action (driven by a flaw or an attempt to overcome a flaw), and now we need a resolution.
The principal purpose of the resolution is to show the emotional consequences of the character’s flaws being challenged. Remember, a flaw is essentially a harmful world view – and learning that the world is not the way you think it is can easily be one of the most painful things you will ever experience.
Revealing character is always your purpose, and the character’s desire (we are defined by the things we want and the things preventing us from achieving them) must feel like a matter of life and death. Often, it’s easier to dump the problem on the character’s lap and use that to reveal the desire – how they respond to the conflict reveals what they are. That’s totally fine.
If you’re in doubt about how to resolve a conflict, well, the answer is easy. Push your characters as far as you can at every opportunity. What is the worst thing that can happen? DO THAT. What’s bad in life is good on the page. A good game of football is more likely where the score is 4-3 in extra time, than one that finishes 7-0 after 90 minutes.
The obstacle should be equal or greater than the character’s action. Nothing should ever be easy for the character (and be careful of obvious outs – it must be a genuine obstacle, not one that could be solved if he just talked to her/put down the gun/called Starfleet for backup).
Whatever is happening, your character should have strong feelings about it. They should be driving a car AND revealing something about themselves by how they drive the car.
In good storytelling everything has a purpose all the time. And nothing should be doing only one thing: we show emotions, and we move the plot forward.
What should emerge is a vicious circle, an inevitable descent where no matter what the hero does their flaws prove to strong/their attempts to overcome their flaws insufficient, until finally, in their darkest hour, right before the end of the story, they are forced to give everything they have and everything they are to win the day (or die.)
Exercise
Write me a short paragraph of prose that starts at the exact moment where a character realises that not only have they not got what they wanted, but they have lost something important and it is their own fault. 200 words of existential pain, extra points for imaginative scenarios.
Leave your response in the comments and I’ll respond with feedback!
Find out more about my (totally free) writing lessons here.
