The Writers Journey

Emotions-Conflict-Tension

   The first draft—the bones of the story—are flat. It is the ideas and plot laid out. We can see the shape, but we need to build the story up and add the muscles, nerves, and flesh. We need conflict, tension, and emotions. 

     We need conflict—good versus evil. This could be major, like your character waking up and finding out the world has ended, zombies are after them, and they have the cure to life in their bloodstream.  Or it could be simple, like your character has a significant job interview they need to get to, and they locked themselves out of their apartment. This is conflict. This is something that needs to be solved. 

    Imagine the tension, like a clock ticking down. The zombies are approaching; your character is at the top of the building with no weapons, a thirty-floor drop, and the next building is ten feet away. She is standing on the edge of the building. What does she do? With the simple conflict idea, the tension could be your character returning from her morning workout and realizing she has forgotten her keys and needs to be at the interview in half an hour. Her friend lives fifteen minutes away. Can she make it to her friends on time, shower, borrow some clothes, and get to the interview? Tension. The clock is ticking. It is counting down. Tension is created. What happens next?

    This is where you need emotion. How is your character feeling? What does she see? Taste? Smell? Feel? Hear? Put your reader in the situation. Put YOURSELF in the situation. There are hoards of zombies coming at you, you are at the edge of a building, looking down. How do you feel? Is your heart pounding? Can you hear the zombies? Are they moaning? Grunting? Making slurping noises? How do they smell? They have rotten, putrid flesh falling off of their bodies. It would stink? What does it smell like? Ask yourself! Can you taste the smell? Can you taste the fear? These sensory details make the reader feel the character's emotions.   

    The second scenario is simple conflict. Realizing you have thirty minutes to get to the interview, you call your friend. Luckily, she is home but leaving soon. She promises to leave the key under the doormat. You hightail it to her building., You dodge cars, people, dogs being walked, and children in strollers. Time is a loud tick, tick, tick in your brain. Every second counts. You have got to be at the interview! This is the dream job! The one you have fantasized about. You make it to the apartment, find the keys, take a three-second shower, and grab an outfit from the closet, but it is not the correct size. You realize your friend is smaller/bigger than you. The clock is ticking. How do you feel? Is your heart racing? Are you sweating? Is your hair a mess? What if you are allergic to her makeup? You hear the clock tick. You feel the anxiety creep in. You smell your sweat. You taste your coffee breath. You see the visible click of the clock as another minute passes. 

    And this ... this conflict, this tension, this emotional reaction brings your story to life. It takes it from telling to showing to being right there in the moment. This, my friends, is the magic of the story.

    Do yourself a favor: Don't stop at the first draft. Take a week or a month off. Step back. Let the story relax. And then ... pull it up and flesh out the bones. Bring it to life and make it breathe.