Falling Action

No, we're not having a lesson about action scenes where characters take falls. We're talking about a very important part of basic plot structure:

The falling action in a story is everything that happens between the climax and the return to a stable, resting state. A good falling action gives the reader a sense that the story is over, and also hints at what life will be like for the characters in the future.

Whether you're revising a story you've written or outlining something new, take stock of your falling action. Make a list of your plot lines, both major and minor. How do you want each one to resolve? Do you want things to have changed for the better, changed for the worse, or stayed the same? Remember, it's good to have a mix. Once you've decided how each plot line resolves, be sure you convey those changes to the reader in the falling action.

A good way to do this is by using ending beats, which we will talk more about next week. For now, an ending beat is a snapshot of the new life as usual. To really finish off a major plot line, use at least three ending beats. Minor plot lines probably only need one.

Last of all, make sure the falling action in your story is short but sufficient. Go on too long, and you're writing into the sequel. The new life as usual only needs to be hinted at, not experienced in scene for pages and pages. As with all writing, the goal is to guide the reader's imagination. Find a balance between dictating everything and leaving too much open.

Happy writing!

How to Create Tension... or Destroy It

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary says that tension is "a balance maintained in an artistic work between opposing forces or elements." Greater opposing forces means greater tension. So if you want tension to be high, then whatever it is your character has to oppose, make it the biggest, baddest thing possible.

Where do you need tension in the story? It should be present in your first line to create a strong hook for the reader. Tension is what will keep your reader turning pages through that muddle in the middle. When you reach the end of the story, build tension to its highest peak and then let it off at the climax for a totally satisfying ending. Basically, you need tension throughout a story, but rather than making a steady climb from the opening line to the climax, tension should rise and fall to create a thrilling emotional ride. 

At our meeting we brainstormed some ways to make tension rise in a story:

• Make something bad happen. This makes the reader feel like something else bad is going to happen.
• Put a time-bomb in the story. Give the characters a deadline. Be home by midnight or you're a pumpkin.
• Place obstacles between your characters and their desires. The bigger the obstacle and the greater the desire, the more tension this will create. This obstacle can come from the outside, but sometimes it is even better for the obstacle to come from the inside. Does your character have conflicting desires that combine to undermine?
• A near miss can raise tension, such as a bullet flying past a character's ear, or a swerve-and-swipe rather than a head-on collision. But don't overdo this one or the reader will start to think you haven't got the guts to make something really bad happen.
• Lean, fast-paced prose won't raise tension by itself, but it will allow it to steam ahead unhindered.
• Change the game. This falls under the category of "obstacles," but it involves such a big obstacle that the characters' plans to resolve the conflict are completely overturned.

On the other hand, here are some things we thought of that will deflate tension:

• Losing your audience's willing suspension of disbelief.
• Unsympathetic characters. If the reader doesn't care, the reader feels no tension.
• Resolutions of problems that come too easy.
• Pointless rambling on the part of the author.
• Any emotional release by the characters, such as laughing or crying.
• Characters that are too indecisive. A character can wonder what to do, but flip-flopping is tedious and irritating to the reader.
• Lack of story progress.

Remember, tension is the engine that drives story. If you haven't got it, your story goes nowhere.

Keep writing!

Resolving Conflicts

There are two basic ways to resolve a conflict in your story:

1. Character gets what character wants. Hooray! Happy ending.

2. Character doesn't get what character wants. Aw, darn. Sad ending.

Most stories end with number one, but there are a few that end with number two. If you use number one, your readers will be happy, but not surprised. If you use number two, you raise the chances that English teachers will make students read your book.

There is a third alternative.

A complex resolution is usually more satisfying to the reader than a simple win-or-lose outcome. In a complex ending, a character may get what he wants, but then discovers that there are some serious drawbacks, or a very high cost. Or (and this is my favorite), a character may not get what he wants, but then realizes that he has gained something even better.

So, try and resolve your conflicts in a more complex way. Surprise us. Make us think.

Novel-length stories contain multiple conflicts. Your main character should have internal and external conflicts, there should be sub-plots, and minor characters should have their own internal and/or external conflicts. As you weave your story together, see if you can't make these various conflicts work to either intensify or to resolve each other. A scene gains more punch as multiple conflicts are either heightened or resolved in that single scene.

For instance, in the original Star Wars film, as Luke homes in on the fatal exhaust port, he resolves an inner conflict and decides to trust The Force. He switches off his targeting computer. At the same time, Han Solo resolves his internal conflict, am I a mercenary scum or a loyal friend, and decides to help the rebels, thus giving Luke a clear shot. Luke fires, the shot goes in, and the external conflict with the Death Star is resolved in a blinding display of special effects. Both Luke's and Han's internal conflicts come together to facilitate the resolution of the external conflict.

Now let's take Lord of the Rings. Frodo finally reaches the Crack o' Doom, but once he gets there he realizes he doesn't really want to chuck in the One Ring. His internal struggle against the Ring's power seems to have resolved, resulting in a TOTAL LOSS. Middle Earth is doomed. But then along comes the external conflict with Gollum. Gollum attacks Frodo, bites off the ring, and Gollum gets what Gollum wants, but then Gollum accidentally falls into the volcano with the Ring (oops), which resolves Frodo's internal conflict by releasing Frodo from the Ring's evil grip. External conflict resolves internal conflict.

So, in conclusion, resolve your conflicts in a complex way, and interweave the resolution of multiple conflicts to build a complex story.

Keep writing!