bridging conflict
Dec. 23rd, 2015 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marycatelliPondering a story, I realized I could move the inciting incident much earlier than I had thought.
But not to the beginning. There was still some set up needed.
Which meant some bridging conflict is needed. Plop the character into a problem in the start, to keep the readers' attention until it segues into the real problem. And there's a beginning of one stemming from his knowing the situation, even if he wasn't involved in it.
Only that means it need to be planted among the events that do the set-up. It's one thing to know there's a mystery and a problem about another character, and to know it's your duty to prevent his being harassed about it. It's another for me to festoon the mischief and pranks that lead up to the real conflict. (Someone uses it as cover to get to the character with the mystery.) And it's vital that the main character not realize the connection until it catches him. . . .
sigh
But not to the beginning. There was still some set up needed.
Which meant some bridging conflict is needed. Plop the character into a problem in the start, to keep the readers' attention until it segues into the real problem. And there's a beginning of one stemming from his knowing the situation, even if he wasn't involved in it.
Only that means it need to be planted among the events that do the set-up. It's one thing to know there's a mystery and a problem about another character, and to know it's your duty to prevent his being harassed about it. It's another for me to festoon the mischief and pranks that lead up to the real conflict. (Someone uses it as cover to get to the character with the mystery.) And it's vital that the main character not realize the connection until it catches him. . . .
sigh