How to Write a Story, Part 4: Hurting Your Hero's Feelings

Okay, remember when we learned that all stories are about a character with a problem and how they solve that problem (or get beaten by it)?  Well that's still true.  But there's something else too.  The problems we discussed the other day are external problems.  That is, problems that occur outside of your hero's body.  A monster chases her.  A tidal wave closes in.  Bad guys storm the building where her husband works, or a dog can't remember where he hid his bone.  All of this stuff is external, meaning, it can't just be thought through.  Your hero has to interact with the outside world in order to find a solution.

Clear so far?  Excellent.

These external struggles are your plot problems.  You find one big one, like needing to escape from an island of man-eating dinosaurs (as in "Jurassic Park"), and from that you build your plot.

The other kind of problem that heroes' have is an internal problem.  That is, how they feel about the situation they find themselves in.  Or, how they feel about the plot problem. 

Bad action movies are wonderful examples of this because they're usually written by macho guys who can only portray emotion in the most obvious ways.  The heroes in these stories have usually been scarred by some similar situation, like, "I can't go into that building to rescue the hostages, because last time I did I got a dozen innocent people (including my partner) killed!"  The time between that episode and the one currently facing him will have been a period of intense doubt (and likely problem drinking).  They will have become bitter, and almost definitely will be refusing the call to action this time around.

All of this stuff is mental, or internal.  If the hero in this action movie just charged in without fear or consideration of what it all may mean, we, the audience, probably wouldn't register the problem as being particularly large (to him).  And the movie would be less interesting.  But if our hero is frightened and doubting himself, then the problem seems so much bigger, and the question isn't just will he save the hostages, it's will he stand up to his own misgivings and insecurities and find what he needs within to complete the mission.  Or, essentially, can this journey make him whole again?

Always remember that we build stories in an opposite way from how we handle difficulty in our real lives.  In this world we want to solve our problems fast.  In story telling we want to make those problems bigger and bigger and bigger before we solve them.  Giving your character an internal problem will help you do this while making your hero seem more like a real person, which allows your audience to sink deeper into the story.

So... pay attention while you're reading your favorite books or watching your favorite movies and television shows.  See how fast you can recognize the outside problem (the one that drives the plot) and the inside problem (the one that informs the character).  I'll bet that the sooner you have these answers (and hopefully believe them), the sooner you'll be enjoying the story.

Now go find your writing chair!