Author Intrusion
Author intrusions are conflicts the writer added when they
found themselves backed into a corner. These often pull the
reader out of the story, breaking the bond between them and the
characters. Sometimes author intrusions are so blatant
that the reader gives up reading all together.
Example of an Author Intrusion:
Jill arrives at work twenty minutes early, ready to give her
biggest client sales presentations of the year. She is hyped,
ready, and expecting to land the account when a note is passed
to her. Opening it, she learns that she is fired. To correct
this, the writer would have Jill as the head of a major project
that failed or cost the company millions, and she becomes the
scapegoat.
Mike is walking past a restaurant when an old girlfriend
walks up and throws herself at him. Mary looks out the window
and sees the embrace.
Dan is deciding whether to run or stand up to his duties. The
door opens. Black Mike, someone from his long past, waves a gun
at him. "Mr. Big wants you to come back and work for him, and he
won't take no for an answer."
Action and Reaction - Cause and Effect
The best conflicts are caused by action and reaction, or
cause and effect. These are caused by the character's actions or
decisions, and each moves the character from one problem to the
next.
An example of action and reaction would be where a character
reacts negatively or positively in a situation, leading them
into more problems.
Example:
Jill is fired.
She decides to move back home.
Once home she meets Bob, her first love.
She decides to date Bob again.
Dating bob makes it harder for her to find a job.
Unemployment causes her to loose her independence.
This gives her a new look at life.
She realizes that she has been chasing a hollow dream built
on desires and wants. The only way to be truly happy is to give
up her ambitions and marry bob, and raise the family that she
needs to be happy.
Bob, realizing that she is giving up a career for him,
decides to sell the family farm and use the money to help build
a own company of their own.
This example shows how each action forced the character to
react. Each decision the characters made moved them into another
problem. The solution to one problem caused another problem.
This is called driving the plot it is how you can use
conflict to drive your plot forward, increasing tension and
suspense, and keeping the story's readers glued to each page
until the end.
Mini-Resolutions and Breathers
Each conflict should have a mini resolution. The character
wins something, or learns something. These mini resolutions will
give the reader a sense of satisfaction. Breathers are pauses in
the action. They allow the character a moment to catch their
breath, learn something new, and think about what happened. This
introspection is a great place to highlight the character growth
and let the character weigh the risk and stakes.
Pacing
When editing, measure the distance between breathers and the
length of each one. Breathers should grow steadily shorter as
the book progresses. A fast paced book should have shorter
breathers that are placed closer together. This increase the
book’s pacing. Measuring the distance between breathers, and
their length, can let a writer correct pacing problems. It is
also a good idea to track which subplots are in the breathers.
If all the breathers focus on the same sub plots, avoiding
others, then there may be loose ends or a potential unresolved
plot. If a breathers focus on too few breathers, or they are far
apart, then the book is slow paced.
Climax
This is not a hard rule, but I suggest that writers include
all of the subplots in the climax. This prevents
How to Edit Content
The first thing a writer needs to do is remove all author
intrusions. Even situational driven plots should introduce
conflicts that are a direct result of the character's actions,
decisions or reactions to a previous conflict.
Next: Take a look at the conflicts. Are they
situational or character driven, and is the choice consistent
with the genre the novel is written for. Often, it only takes a
one or two page rewrite, from a clever writer, to fix this type
of mistake.
Each conflict should force the main character into actions.
These actions should solve the conflict but the characters
actions, decisions, or reactions will cause the next conflict.
When these elements are balanced, make sure the mini-resolutions
and breathers do not stop the action, break the tension, or
cause the reader to loose interest.
Last: Check the pacing and climax. Do this by tracking
how many sub plots and which sub plots are involved in each
conflict. The more sub plots involved, should indicate a faster
paced, more emotionally charged story. The distance between
conflicts and the distance between breathers will indicate
whether the story is fast paced or slow paced.
Good Writing
