I don’t know many people who don’t lean in when they hear that phrase. “It’s complicated.” Two words that hold the power to intrigue and pique curiosity. They make us click to find out more. They prompt questions and promise a bevy of details. “It’s complicated” might not be a great way to live, but it sure is a good way to tell a story.
Complications make stories. As writers, we understand this. It’s why we cram complications into our stories and keep shoving until our characters can’t take it anymore…and then we add more.
Complications heighten a story’s tension and keep readers glued to the page. They put characters in peril and add an element of mystery. How will the character respond? Where will this lead?
Story complications can be any obstacle facing your character, physical or emotional. They can be big or small. The only requirement is that they force your character to react. It is that response that matters, no matter where it falls on the emotional continuum. Joy or despair. Fear or anger. Love or hate.
Sometimes complications can lead to comic moments that offer readers a brief break from the onslaught. Other times they ratchet up the tension until the reader feels what the character does.
Ultimately, complications drive the plot, be it by a step or a leap. But how do you add complications that will move your story forward? Here are a few tips to consider.
Complications should:
Reveal Character
No matter what your character faces, their reaction to a complication should show who they are. Do they lash out or forge ahead? Give up and run away or stand and fight? How they respond reveals who they are in that moment. Each incident should show a new aspect of their character so your reader gets to know your characters as a whole person. This is character development through adversity.
Move the Story Forward
The complications you throw at your character should push the story toward the ultimate climax and resolution. It should follow the through line that is driving your story forward. If it doesn’t do this, either your complication is in the wrong place in your story or it is unnecessary and can be removed.
Keep Your Character from Goal
One of the most important roles complications play in stories is to prevent characters from reaching their goals. Complications are the hurdles writers place in front of characters to delay their progress and, ultimately, resolution of the story. Complications should act as speed bumps that slow characters down but don’t impede their progress. It should be one more in a series of challenges to overcome. One more riddle to solve. One more task to complete.
Relate to that Goal
Characters have goals. The complications you choose to throw at them should relate to those goals. For example, if you are writing a romance, the ultimate goal is to find love. If the complication you toss in doesn’t affect the two main characters or their relationship, then you need to find something else. If your character wants to summit a mountain, then the complications you include should impede their ability to climb, summit, or survive.
Raise the Stakes
Complications should escalate, raising the stakes within the story. Readers want characters who are pushing against increasingly difficult challenges. If the complications are at the same level, the story can feel monotonous or tedious. But when the complications progress, growing increasingly more difficult, It makes the resolution that much sweeter. This also keeps readers turning pages through the night. This is called “raising the stakes” in fiction. Look for a two-part blog on this subject in upcoming weeks.
Force a Response
A complication is only as good as the impact on the character. If she can ignore it, then it isn’t successful. Think about it like this: If someone put up hurdles along your running path, but you could easily run around them and keep going, then the hurdles are not terribly effective. They are superfluous. Complications should demand a response or reaction of some kind. They should block the path, demanding a reaction, whether that is to jump over, scrabble over or crawl under it. The reaction should match your character.
Be Unique
If you use the same type of complication throughout the story, your reader will get bored and you’ll lose them. Make sure your complications stand out. Repetition can become tedious for your readers. Mix it up. If one complication arose from a lack of communication, then the next one needs to be the result of something else. There is a wide range of ways to mess with characters. Pick a variety of obstacles to keep things interesting.
Complications, Part II will focus on the different types of complications typically found in stories.