Allow main character to experience crisis of faith

Five Great Quotations about Revising Four writing prompts: Uncertainty

Allow main character to experience crisis of faith

A man vs. himself conflict often elevates a story��s suspense and depth. When a character must face a confrontation with himself, most readers can relate to him. External conflicts that affect a character �� such as eluding international assassins or stopping an alien invasion �� are great escapism but (mostly) outside the reader��s realm of experience. Because of that, the action often feels contrived, and the reader knows the hero will prevail, reducing the tension.

Because of this, many writers introduce a crisis of faith into their story. This occurs when the protagonist expresses doubt, fear or some other emotion that brings into question whether he will continue to solve the story��s problem. For example, a main character tasked with rescuing a hostage might think about how the odds are against him, as he��s outnumbered and outgunned; perhaps he��ll recall a time when a friend who was better than him at black ops failed in a rescue attempt from a similar building.

A crisis of fate ratchets up the suspense in a couple of ways. First, if the protagonist doesn��t rise to the challenge, then the antagonist will win unless some plot twist occurs. The reader thus is thrown off about how the story��s central conflict will be resolved. Secondly, though the main character will overcome this crisis of faith before the big showdown, it still leaves doubt and fear in the reader��s mind about whether or not it might arise during the climatic scene. That, of course, means the hero has a greater chance of being defeated.

Usually authors place this plot device just before the story��s climax. If it��s placed too early in the story, then it needs to be a dominant conflict that the story centers on. When used as a crisis of faith, however, it is merely a temporary doubt rather than one that drives the entire story.

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