How You Can Use Desire and Danger To Keep Readers Glued to the Page
Write Better Now
Sometimes as writers, we get so tangled in plot beats, subplots, and beautiful sentences that we forget the single thread that holds a reader’s attention from page one to “The End:” desire versus danger.
Dwight Swain kind of nailed it when he said that all stories are about this primal tug-of-war. Your characters want something (sometimes desperately), and something—be it a petty annoyance of a barking puppy or an earth-shattering threat like zombie hedgehogs—wants to stop them.
If you get that balance right, then your story has both heart and heat.
Today, we’re going to break down Swain’s five essential elements so you can sharpen your story’s focus, amp up your stakes, and keep readers glued to the page. I’ve spoken about bits of this years ago on a podcast and found it for one of my writer clients this morning, so I thought, “Hey, let’s expand and share.”
Dwight Swain has a book, The Techniques of a Selling Writer, and there’s a chapter (well many chapters) that talk about story structure, but one specifically begins like this:
“All stories are ‘about’ the same thing: desire versus danger.”
Swain
So that’s a really good place to start.
WHAT DOES YOUR CHARACTER DESIRE (OR AS WE USUALLY SAY-WANT)?
Our characters are either trying to get or keep something and the story happens because there is danger that might keep our little heroes from getting their goals. That danger can be huge (like being called home to an oppressive space) or small (losing peace of mind), but the reader must always feel it there.
Swain says there are five basic elements to all commercially successful stories (and some of them want me to say, ‘Duh, obviously.’
Still, it’s good to look at them) and I’m going to lay those out here.
Character
Situation
Objective
Opponent
Disaster
LET’S GO A TINY BIT MORE IN DEPTH, OKAY?
Character—This is the protagonist. The protagonist must want things. Things have to affect her. She must react to things outside herself. She must oppose the dangers that go against her wants/desires.
Situation—So this is world around the character or as Swain says, “No focal character exists in a vacuum. He operates against a backdrop of trouble that forces him to act. That backdrop, that external state of affairs, is your story situation.”
Objective—So this is what your main character wants. If she doesn’t want anything, there is no story. If she doesn’t want anything, there is nothing for her to fight for and fight against.
Opponent—This is what fights against your character’s wants. The better the opponent, the better the story. Swain writes, “Obstacles personified in a person—who not only resists but fights back—make for more exciting reading.”
Disaster—This is the climax right, the SCARIEST MOST HORRIBLE THING HAS HAPPENED. Your protagonists is in a cage, damn it, starving, cold, on display. It’s always near the end of the story.
Swain suggests writing two sentences to collate all that for your story.
“Sentence 1 is a statement. It establishes character, situation, and objective.
Sentence 2 is a question. It nails down opponent and disaster.”
Swain again
Here’s a try.
A local fire fighter in a conservative and sexist department wants a promotion. Will she be able to snag the captain spot that the chief doesn’t want to give her because she’s already too “weird” when she’s suddenly confronted by the magical nature of her family and the monsters they attract.
SO, THE READER WILL WONDER:
Will the firefighter defeat the bad guy, deal with her inner issues and danger, and be happy/succeed in getting her wants?
So, will she deal with the chief and the monsters, allow her inner weirdness to shine and get the damn promotion?
A positive character arc the answer is a yes.
A negative character arc the answer is a no.
Most static arcs are also yeses, the character just doesn’t grow.
You want the conflict in there because the conflict tells the reader that there is emotion going on in the story. And that, my friends, is what the story needs.
It’s a danger that keeps the main character from immediately getting (or ever getting) her desire.
In some types of stories (think peaceful picturebooks) that danger might be minimal (how will you go to sleep when you have so many things to say goodnight to) and in some types of stories (think dystopian/superhero/thriller) that danger might be huge (the pixies want to bring an apocalypse to the entire earth, but you just want to get kissed).
QUICK EXERCISE TO HELP
The “Two-Sentence Spine” Challenge
Using Swain’s five elements—Character, Situation, Objective, Opponent, Disaster—distill your work-in-progress into just two sentences:
Sentence 1 (Statement): Establish your character, situation, and objective in one breath.
Sentence 2 (Question): Pose a question that brings in your opponent and disaster, showing the danger that threatens your character’s desire.
Example:
A local hamster firefighter in a conservative and sexist department wants a promotion. Will she be able to snag the captain spot that the chief doesn’t want to give her—while facing the magical monsters that her family’s bloodline attracts?
Your turn:
Write your Sentence 1—keep it under 25 words if you can.
Write your Sentence 2—make the reader feel the stakes.
Test it aloud: Does it make someone lean forward and say, “Ooh, tell me more”?
QUICK PLACES TO SUBMIT YOUR WORK
Two open reading periods are coming up for these journals. You might want to check them out!
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Aug 15 to Aug 22
Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Sep 1 to Oct 31
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