Writing Essentials: Choice & Consequence

In the previous post we had a look at how contrasting the Ego/Shadow/Self dynamic helps us find organic tension within the character journey.

Tension is created when there’s internal conflict generated by how our character perceives themselves vs. who they truly are deep down.

When the Ego is convinced of one thing, the Shadow is whispering another, and the Self sits at the center of our character with the truth of their identity, we get direction for our character journey.

-       The Ego becomes what is stated in our story, what’s in the text, because that’s our character’s conscious.

-       The Shadow becomes what’s insinuated in our story, what’s in the subtext, because that’s our character’s subconscious.

-       The Self becomes what’s foreshadowed in our story, what we’re building to, because understanding themselves is part of what leads to the big revelation at the end of our story, when the truth of what it’s all been about is presented to the reader.

Narrative momentum happens when the motor for our character reaching their endgame (internal balance) revolves around finding the resolution to this internal conflict.

Let’s look at an effective way to ensure the text and the subtext work together to create the foreshadowing necessary to make our narrative climax resonate with our reader: the interplay between reaction and choice.

Choice

A reminder:

·       Our protagonist begins at point A, unaware of who they are truly meant to be, and is set on a journey of self-discovery.

·       As they discover they are led to make choices, some good and some bad, with each choice teaching a lesson designed to open them up to more and more self-awareness.

·       This is because each choice makes them confront aspects of themselves that they never realized held sway over them.

·       Shadow aspects such as shame, guilt, fear, regret, and so on.

·       Each aspect brought to light teaches our protagonist that what they thought was true within their own self-perception is marred by self-deception.

·       Shifting their self-perception brings self-acceptance and self-honesty, connecting them with who they truly are.

·       This begins the integration process, allowing them to start making better and better choices for themselves.

·       These better choices will reflect the reason why they are on their journey to begin with and will warrant them reaching a satisfying endgame.

Choice is key to our protagonist’s growth.

Choice stems from our character reaction but is also imperative for their next action.

When a character takes action, they show themselves and reveal the current level of character growth to the reader. 

A character who remains passive in their own journey is difficult to relate to because as humans we know what it means to react and respond to our life, even if it’s only on a subconscious level.

With reaction leading to choice and choice leading to action, the most effective anchor into character growth is for the action to result in something.

The most straightforward result of a choice is for its action to bring a consequence.

Bring on the Tension

A choice resulting in a consequence is an excellent way to ensure tension remains taut within our narrative.

Why is tension important?

Because tension creates anticipation in our reader.

Anticipation of when and how the tension of a scene, a sequence of scenes, or the character journey itself will resolve.

A consequence related to a scene, or a sequence of scenes, eases the tension momentarily, as it offers a resolution to that specific part of the character journey, while keeping anticipation in place of what’s to follow.

We have our character react to an event within a scene that is designed to either bring them forward on their path to self-awareness, or to set them back.

Moving forward or facing a setback is what keeps our narrative interesting. It can’t all be smooth sailing. Some lessons are harder to learn than others, right? Keeping the narrative open to both alternatives—moving forward or bumping up against an obstacle—keeps the reader guessing.

A setback is never meant to stunt our character growth but is rather a great way to dig deeper into our character’s core flaw and clarify it to our reader.

Example: A character trapped in a room is facing an external obstacle in the shape of a locked door. We present a core flaw that must be overcome: our character has claustrophobia. The core flaw brings purpose to the character journey and introduces a character driven element to the plot: a flaw that needs to be confronted and resolved.

The setback in this scenario is that, until they make a better choice for themselves than allowing their phobia—their fear of confinement aka their core flaw—to rule their reaction to the situation, they will remain stuck in that room.

The consequence of a Bad Choice: staying trapped indefinitely.

Momentum is found when the character manages the first stage of confrontation.

For example, they manage to talk themselves out of their overreaction.

If they calm down enough that they get a grasp of the phobia, they can begin to make choices that may win them their freedom.

Each little movement towards deeper self-awareness is rewarded with a solution to the problem they’re facing: the locked door.

Each little backslide into the status quo (every type of self-deception that keeps them from getting to the root of their phobia) is punished until the movement towards self-awareness begins to outweigh the backsliding tendencies.

The consequence of a Good Choice: movement towards freedom.

In the next post we’ll dig into Good vs. Bad Choices and how they help inform consequence via the character journey.