Yesterday, I mentioned the volley of actions and consequences between your protagonist and other characters in your story. Today, we’ll take that a step further and look at the next logical step: Confrontation.

Step five: Discuss your (your character’s) intentions as a result of the behavior.

Dramatic fiction relies on poor communication, avoidance, and misinterpretation. However, direct, in-your-face confrontation and demands are another tool in your kit: the stakes. Your protagonist has acted, which caused a reaction in another character. The other character’s action are the consequence of your protagonist’s action. Now, you need to show why this matters.

  • He slammed the car door and she assumed he was angry. She was concerned, because they had been arguing a lot lately. She didn’t know if he was still mad at her. She avoided talking to him when he was angry, and would give him the silent treatment until he calmed down. She wanted to resolve his anger, because the constant arguing was detrimental to their marriage.
  • Her brow was furrowed and he assumed she was concerned about something. He felt inadequate because she hadn’t asked for his help and worried that she had someone else to turn to. He would try harder to get her to notice him. He wouldn’t be ignored.
  • He glanced behind himself repeatedly and she assumed he was worried about being followed. She felt afraid, because he’d been secretive about some trouble he’d been having. This made her feel protective, so she trailed him. His habit of keeping secrets had put his friends and family in danger before.
  • Her fingers tapped non-stop on the tabletop and he assumed she was impatient. He felt angry, because he wanted to enjoy the moment without rushing. He had started to avoid her and preferred going out alone. If she kept this up, she’d lose him.

Practice observing, reporting, interpreting, deciding consequences, and setting stakes. You may have some false starts and most of your exercises won’t turn into stories. Practice for the sake of practice is a worthy use of your time. However, I would bet that after some practice runs, you’ll find a few intriguing combinations that spark your writer’s imagination.