Working the Theory Interpersonal Conflict Scenes

Interpersonal Conflict scenes reveal how the protagonist and love interest, if applicable, are affected by friends and foes. These conflicts test the protagonist’s friendships, loyalties, and will to continue.

This is your verbal camera focused on stage left. Interpersonal conflicts are the push and pull away from the action needed to solve the story problem by secondary characters.

Depending on the point of view, they can involve the friends and foes interacting with the protagonist, love interest, antagonist, or each other. Friends and foes can be used in any combination of scenes that fit with your story line. There will be both positive and negative interchanges with these characters.

Interpersonal scenes address subplots and side stories which should culminate before the climax, with everyone lined up and revealed to be on which side of the fight. Subplots should circle back to and intersect the external story problem. If they don’t, you should consider cutting them.

Secondary characters should have an agenda and stakes. They want to hide, reveal, provide, or take something away. Their personal goals may be at odds with the protagonist’s goal, or the antagonist’s goal. Their situation may complicate the overall story problem, intentionally or unintentionally.

If you are writing in third person omniscient or shifting point of view, you can use the different viewpoints to express the friends’ and foes’ thoughts and feelings or show them taking actions the protagonist would be unaware of.

Interpersonal scenes require the most flexibility depending on the point of view you choose, the number of subplots, and the length of the story. You should decide how many scenes each subplot requires, but they should not exceed the number dedicated to the main throughline. List notes for each subplot scene including inception, complications, and conclusion.

Let’s say that Jane is in love with Ted and wants to help him. Captain Curtis is in charge of the space shuttle. General Smith represents the military and controls the satellite. Bob is the ground crewman controlled by Ted. Jane works with Ted and Dick.

Interpersonal Conflict 1: Jane meets with Ted to declare her feelings before it is too late. He manipulates her into helping him without telling her the real reason.

Interpersonal Conflict 2: Jane meets with Dick and gives him erroneous data.

Interpersonal Conflict 3: General Smith argues that his satellite is too important to be used to adjust the meteor’s trajectory. It could cause more harm than good. They should blow it up.

Interpersonal Conflict 4: Bob tries to tinker with the satellite, but almost gets caught by Jane.

Interpersonal Conflict 5: General Smith relents and allows the satellite to be used.

Interpersonal Conflict 6: Captain Curtis balks at sending the laser to the space station.

Interpersonal Conflict 7: Captain Curtis appeals to his crew. Is anyone willing to go? Captain Curtis decides to go himself.

Interpersonal Conflict 8: Ted and Jane have a show down. Jane can’t believe Ted is so evil.

Interpersonal Conflict 9: Bob rats on Ted.

Interpersonal Conflict 10: Jane and Bob celebrate when the shuttle succeeds.

Interpersonal Conflict 11: General Smith tells Dick to stay. He is too valuable an asset to retire.

Next week, we look at Internal Conflict scenes.

As always, if you find this information useful, please like and share. 

The four layer method is laid out in Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict, available in paperback and e-book if you wish to have a copy with all of the information. The theory information is also available on https://dianahurwitz.com/.

Working the Theory Antagonist Conflict Scenes

Antagonist Conflict scenes introduce us to the antagonist or antagonistic forces. This is your verbal camera focused on stage right. 

These scenes test the protagonist’s and antagonist’s knowledge, ingenuity, and strength. They are battles of will and wit.
They develop how the protagonist and antagonist face off in between the external conflict scenes. 

If you are only following the protagonist’s POV, these scenes are where the lead alien and the hero face off, the serial killer taunts the investigator, the brothers fight over the woman, the scientists clash over the best way to thwart the meteor, or the knight and the infidel cross swords.

If the verbal camera follows the antagonist, or these scenes are written from his point of view, they show him actively pursuing his goal and reveal his personal dilemma. They show him interacting with his henchmen or threatening secondary characters.

In some stories the antagonist force may be pushing the character to do something positive. Some stories that don't have an evil villain. In a Road Trip, Team Victory, Romance, or Golden Fleece tale, there may not be an overt corrupt or evil character.  In these cases, the character who serves as an antagonist is the one who has the biggest impact on the protagonist. They butt heads and interfere. They exchange barbs if they aren't exchanging bullets.

In Antagonist scenes, the villain states his side of the thematic argument. All of these conflicts lead to the climactic confrontation with the protagonist. The final scene reveals the fate of the antagonist. 

If you are using antagonistic forces rather than a person, these scenes show the protagonist struggling against them. If the force is nature, these scenes show the protagonist being threatened by nature. If the force is society or a controlling power, these scenes show him working against them. If the force is family disapproval, and a specific member isn’t singled out as an antagonist, then these scenes show the protagonist trying to win them over or to break their hold over him.

Antagonist scenes escalate the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist or antagonistic forces: snags in the plan, unexpected discoveries, reversals, gains, important information concealed or revealed, and increasing levels of threat. They are arranged in an order that will make the most impact. The first scene should introduce the antagonist or forces. The final scene should reveal the final disposition of the antagonist or vanquishing of the forces.

Using our thriller story seed, let's look at what the antagonist scenes could look like. 

Ted is directly opposed to stopping the meteor. He has been so damaged by life that he thinks it is time for humanity to be destroyed. Since this is a thriller, we will allow the verbal camera to follow Ted.

1. Ted learns there is a meteor headed toward earth. Finally, the world can be destroyed and he doesn’t have to lift a finger. All he has to do is sit back and watch the show.

2. Dick has come up with a plan. Ted vows to make sure it doesn’t work.

3. Ted is denied access to the equipment. He has something on one of the grounds crew, Bob, and uses that pressure to convince him to tamper with it. But we’ll all die. Do you want to die now or later?

4. Ted confronts Dick. Why are you trying to stop the inevitable?

5. Dick has come up with a new plan. So Ted must tamper with the laser beam.

6. Ted calls Sally and tells her Dick and Jane are having an affair.

7. Dick confronts Ted. You had something to do with this. You’ll never prove it and in a few days it won’t matter anyway.

8. Ted must find a way to make certain the shuttle doesn’t take off.

9. Ted’s attempts to prevent take off fail.

10. Ted is led off in handcuffs.

Next week, we will look at Interpersonal Conflict scenes.

The four layer method is laid out in Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict, available in paperback and e-book if you wish to have a copy with all of the information. The theory information is also available on https://dianahurwitz.com/.

As always, if you find the information useful, please like and share.

Working the Theory External Conflict Scenes

Now that we have chosen the story skeleton, the challenge is providing riveting obstacles between question and answer to keep the reader glued to the page. The reader knows from the outset that the hero will most likely survive. Your mission is to make them question the outcome anyway. We do this by utilizing the four layers of conflict.

We began with the premise of a meteor streaking toward earth, Dick as a conflicted scientist, his crumbling marriage to Sally, and Ted and Jane as coworkers who make his life miserable.  We have selected the Disaster Thriller format. Let’s start crafting conflict.

External conflicts test the protagonist’s courage, nerves, and determination.

They are high tension scenes that focus on the question of whether the overall story goal will be achieved. They include the main actions and reactions and turning points leading directly to, and including, the climax of the story.

External scenes show the characters caught up in the situation of your premise such as: boy meets girl, the volcano erupts, aliens invade the town, a body has been found, they are all forced to go to a wedding or reunion, or the wagon train heads out for the wild west. They do not address the subplots unless and until the subplot collides with the main plot at the climax.
They introduce the protagonist, the inciting event, the story goal, the prize for reaching the goal, and the cost for not reaching the story goal (stakes). They show him developing and attempting a plan of action for tackling the story problem. In the usual three-act structure, his first plan fails and he must come up with a second plan (the wrong solution). That plan fails and he must come up with the third plan (the right solution).

There have to be some positive moments where it looks like the protagonist is gaining ground. You could divide them equally: five scenes where he is making headway and five scenes where he is losing ground.

Once you’ve picked a skeleton and dressed it up, it is time to list your initial thoughts on events that will happen to trigger then escalate this external conflict: snags in the plan, unexpected discoveries, reversals, gains, and increasing levels of threat. Arrange them in an order that shows cause and effect and final resolution. The first scene should contain the inciting event. The final scene should contain the climax.

Continuing with our premise, we have come up with a list of scenes that introduce and eventually resolve the outer conflict: the imminent meteor strike.

External Conflict 1: Dick learns a meteor will strike.

External Conflict 2: He thinks of a way to stop it while it is still far away. He will nudge it with a satellite.

External Conflict 3: The satellite crashes into, but doesn’t change, the meteor's trajectory.

External Conflict 4: He comes up with plan to divert the meteor with a laser beam.

External Conflict 5: They can’t get the beam close enough from the ground.

External Conflict 6: They send the laser to the space station. The equipment breaks off and is lost in space.

External Conflict 7: They are back to the drawing board - all seems lost. They enter countdown mode.

External Conflict 8: Dick comes up with a final plan. It is do or die. They will nuke the meteor.

External Conflict 9: They rev up the shuttle loaded with a lethal payload to intercept the meteor and, despite last minute glitches, the shuttle takes off on a suicide mission.

External Conflict 10: Their plan succeeds and everyone lives, except the crew of the shuttle.

Next week, we will craft Antagonist Conflict scenes.

The four layer method is laid out in Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict, available in paperback and e-book if you wish to have a copy with all of the information. The theory information is also available on https://dianahurwitz.com/.

As always, if you find the information useful, please like and share.