JAMESTHOMPSON

Conflict and Scene Design

JAMES THOMPSON’s first internationally published novel, Snow Angels, is a representative of Nordic noir. A murder mystery set against the endless night of the Arctic winter, Snow Angels was selected as one of Book-list’s Best Crime Novel Debuts of the Year (2010) and nominated by the American Mystery Association for an Edgar Award in the category of Best First Novel.

 

 

Before we begin, ask yourself two basic questions about your work in progress.

First: Is your story compelling enough that we care about its outcome? To answer this question, ask yourself if you’ve told us something we don’t know, if you have exposed the world to us in a way in which we have never before perceived it. A daunting task.

Second: Do we empathize with your protagonist enough to give a damn about his or her success or failure? Your success or failure in these areas will depend on your treatment of conflict, scene by scene.

Your story will be composed of building blocks. From largest to smallest, these are the story as a whole (ending in a story climax); acts (in the vast majority of stories, there are three); scene sequences; scenes—the subject at hand; and beats, turning points within a scene.

Our responsibility, as storytellers, is to tell the truth. Not the ultimate, unknowable truth, but the dramatic truth of the stories we choose to relate. We create characters and attempt to expose the cores of their inner beings. We can accomplish this only through conflict. What people say means nothing. Our actions define us.

The more pressure placed upon us, the tougher the choices life confronts us with, the more we learn about who we truly are. Conflict reveals character. Because of this, your antagonist is of paramount importance. If your protagonist doesn’t have an opponent whose powers equal or exceed those of the protagonist, you can’t test his or her ultimate limits, you will fail to fully exploit conflict, and your story won’t reach its full potential.

Through conflict, significant changes occur. Every beat should be designed to create change through conflict.

EXERCISE

I would like you to write a scene every day for a month. Every day. If you don’t have access to a computer on a particular day, stick a piece of paper and the stub of a pencil in your pocket.

The length of the scene doesn’t matter; it can be five beats or fifty. All that matters is that in each scene, through conflict, a change occurs that drives the story forward.

Given my reputation for dark and graphic storytelling, the stricture I’m going to place upon you may surprise you. The characters in each of these scenes you will write must remain relatively calm. No one may raise a hand in violence or a voice in anger.

There are two points to this exercise. The first is to help you build the habit of writing every day.

The second point is to ensure that you learn to never confuse mayhem and conflict. After a month, I think the golden rule will be instilled in you: Every scene must turn the story in a new direction.