Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss the importance of trouble to any story. The conversation gets nitty gritty with plot, character arc, chapter structure, and examples from both books and film.
Show Notes:
What is trouble? How does it contribute to both character and plot arcs? How do you have to pay off trouble? And do you have to get it into every scene? We enjoy making a character struggle with a speeding ticket, and talk about how it can contribute to hooks both between chapters and books.
What we talked about:
What is trouble? (0:25)
How can you alleviate the trouble with moments of hope, and thus raise the stakes for the reader? (2:12)
How does character arc and trouble work hand in hand? (3:15)
How do you know how much trouble to put your character in? And how to escalate the trouble through the story? (6:35)
Does trouble always have to be relevant to the goal the character is pursuing? (8:04)
How do you provide pay off for the trouble you put your characters in? (11:40)
Revise with your trouble in mind, have you closed all the open loops? (17:08)
Should there ever be a scene without trouble? (18:02)
How can trouble contribute to hooks between chapters or books? (19:21)
What are the two different kinds of trouble we are talking about and how can you make both resonate through the book? (24:00)
Things we mentioned:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Dharma and Greg
Sneaky Pete
Want more about these topics? Check out:
Flash Tip: Chapter Structure
Flash Tip: Frypan to Fire
60 Second Tip: Going Up? Stakes & Tension
60 Second Tip: Hooks & Endnotes
Have thoughts, questions, other examples? Join the conversation at the Story Works Writers Facebook group.
