Today's study is on Complications! So you character has a goal. And, let's be honest, it's not much of a goal if it's easy to overcome. There have to be complications, problems. I'm not just talking about something happening and your character overcoming it, I'm talking about internal/external/private/public problems every second of the journey. Seems easy, right?
Here's the tricky thing about obstacles. They have to be believable. For example, we're watching the ancient Godzilla. What if all of the sudden they released King Kong and King Kong turns on them. That would be ridiculous. No one would release a wild beast unless they have a way of controlling him. Or let's say your character is scared of heights. No one knows this until your character is 100 feet in the air 57,000 words into your WIP. You can't just pop that out of no where.
It doesn't matter who complicates your protagonist's life, so long as someone does it -- and does it actively, deliberately, and for solid reasons. Whether you villian has tried to stop the hero or something as simple as a friend telling your MC that time is running out.
To complicate your complications, make sure you have more than just one character involved.
In one part of the story, Bryce wakes up in a room after being drugged. The first thing he hears are the screams of his best friend, Sapphy. When he finally makes it to her, the following happens:
1. Drugs bog him down. His vision is blurred and not to mention that killer headache he keeps trying to ignore.
2. There are two villains that work side by side. When they realize he woke up early, one goes to attack him while the other runs off with Sapphy.
3. Even though he's going through complications already, I added more. Sapphy screams at Bryce, "DON'T COME ANY CLOSER. DON'T FOLLOW." She means every word she says, and Bryce must decide to listen to her or to deal with the asshole that just hit him with a lead pipe.
4. After he kills the first villain, he runs to follow the other only to find they are long gone and he's stuck in middle of nowhere, Iraq.
So complications have to be there. Even if they're simple. If you have more than one person/thing complicating -- you'll be raising the stakes even higher.
Here's the tricky thing about obstacles. They have to be believable. For example, we're watching the ancient Godzilla. What if all of the sudden they released King Kong and King Kong turns on them. That would be ridiculous. No one would release a wild beast unless they have a way of controlling him. Or let's say your character is scared of heights. No one knows this until your character is 100 feet in the air 57,000 words into your WIP. You can't just pop that out of no where.
It doesn't matter who complicates your protagonist's life, so long as someone does it -- and does it actively, deliberately, and for solid reasons. Whether you villian has tried to stop the hero or something as simple as a friend telling your MC that time is running out.
To complicate your complications, make sure you have more than just one character involved.
How do you get more than one character involved?
In one part of the story, Bryce wakes up in a room after being drugged. The first thing he hears are the screams of his best friend, Sapphy. When he finally makes it to her, the following happens:
1. Drugs bog him down. His vision is blurred and not to mention that killer headache he keeps trying to ignore.
2. There are two villains that work side by side. When they realize he woke up early, one goes to attack him while the other runs off with Sapphy.
3. Even though he's going through complications already, I added more. Sapphy screams at Bryce, "DON'T COME ANY CLOSER. DON'T FOLLOW." She means every word she says, and Bryce must decide to listen to her or to deal with the asshole that just hit him with a lead pipe.
4. After he kills the first villain, he runs to follow the other only to find they are long gone and he's stuck in middle of nowhere, Iraq.
So complications have to be there. Even if they're simple. If you have more than one person/thing complicating -- you'll be raising the stakes even higher.
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