How to Fuel Conflicts and Misunderstandings in Plots

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How to Fuel Conflicts and Misunderstandings in Plots

This post is in the process of being collated into an e-book, “Building Emotionally Realistic Characters” (Book Two of the Four Dimensional Characterisation Series.) It will be available in Kindle, Nook and iBook form before the end of July 2012. For further information, please keep an eye on this blog.

Have you ever seen a misunderstanding in a film or book and thought, “if only they’d said it this way, that would never have happened!” As a fiction writer, plot twists need to be built into story lines. One way to enable setbacks in a story is to build in miscommunication between the characters. That can be easy to write, however, if you want to create a realistic relationship that isn’t too simplistic to engage the reader, you can use the more subtle basics of interpersonal communication to move the story towards your desired destination.

For a start, characters need to understand what is being said to them. Simple? Not when you consider the filters that communication may go through before it’s interpreted in someone else’s head. Filters can include:

Whether all parties are speaking in their native language.
Differences in level of education: is one character more highly educated and using unfamiliar or deliberately fancy or specialised terms?
Age differences and differing maturity levels which can mean acceptable words, cultural nuances or trends such as dress are offensive or not understood. Or an adult trying to speak at a child’s level and vice versa.
The effects of alertness or lack of, due to sleep, health, temperature in the setting, medications, drugs etc.
Cultural differences in how words are used, tone of voice and eye contact.
Differences in moral values.
Expectations based on whether the other party is of lower rank / importance or higher. Are they equal, fighting for equality, or in a leader – subservient relationship? Do both parties see it the same way?
Non verbal communication such as posture, pacing or still, tone of voice, raised eyebrows, gestures showing love or anger etc.
Perceived motivational factors: is that person out to get me, on my side or not worth my time? Should I listen carefully or who cares what they are saying?
The strength or weakness of the underlying relationship and level trust and familiarity. Is it love or hate?
Expectations of the other’s ability to understand or follow a course of action; which may or may not be realistic.
That person’s hopes and dreams they are trying to accomplish, which are subtly pushing forward what they want.
Sensory stimuli such as offensive smells, overly bright or dim light, background noise or vibrations. For example, ever tried to communicate in an earthquake with a burst sewer pipe next to you and no lighting? You get distracted.

These kinds of filters work for both parties. When someone is about to say something, what comes out of their mouth goes through their individual filters first. They’re then interpreted by the receiver/s through their filters. So much can go wrong!

The quickest way to make simple messages go awry is to be vague. In counselling, you are trained to encourage clients to be very specific about what they are saying. You clarify “I feel bad” as hurt, rejected, tired or misunderstood. Staying vague easily leads to people getting the wrong idea.

The level of misunderstanding can have different strengths too. It can be an awkward moment where what is said just leaves the character feeling a bit uncomfortable, but it’s no big deal. Well, at least not until that moment is built on by more awkward moments… If you really want the stress level to be elevated, it can be a situation which creates serious tension, has destructive ramifications and which leads, inevitably, to a crisis which must be addressed. You can start with small issues to lead up to the climax in your story. Let the distrust, hurt and animosity slowly grow. Alternatively, in a positive setting, you can use the same principles to slowly gain trust, allow bonding and have the characters working together cohesively against a common enemy.

Have a look around you at the plot techniques you see used in books, movies and on television. Also have a look at how you see the people in your life acting which moves them forward or slides them backwards into a poor behaviour patterns. The trick of learning about how human behaviour functions is to be an observer. Sometimes the obvious to others is a complete mystery to someone who is fearful, hurting, tired or confused. As an author, you can subtly or overtly manoeuvre what is said and interpreted in any way you please. The possibilities are limitless.

Photo at the top of this post is Copyright http://www.photos8.com

This article is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2012. All rights reserved. It may not be reproduced in any medium, in print or digital format. I regularly search for my articles and have found where they have been used without permission. Action will be taken against offenders.