Vale, ¡es El Tiempo De Chisme! Tengo Un Novio :)

He fell quietly from her arms. He was a king.

i'm @ imjenndove on instagram! I post more regularly there<3

Writing Arguments Between Characters

– Arguments in books are some of the most pivotal and important scenes in a narrative, but they’re also some of the most difficult because fights, in the moment, can seem much more dramatic in our heads than they would seem to an outsider. The great thing about writing is that you have the option to add context you wouldn’t have otherwise, which puts the reader in the characters’ heads and into the heat of the moment. I decided it was worth an article because it’s a very hit or miss kind of scene to pursue and I’ve received a lot of questions on the subject, so I’d like to answer (most of) them here. Enjoy! 

Instigation

Which character began the fight? Sometimes fights start days before they actually turn into a heated argument, so if there is a build up to the scene, make sure you’ve taken the time to make that clear in the last couple scenes or chapters. 

Sometimes, it isn’t actually clear to the characters what or who started the argument and it just sort of bubbles up over time or as events make the characters more confused, angry, scared, etc.

That’s another thing you need to know before you start writing an argument: what emotion is driving the characters to participate? Fear? Anger? Confusion? Sadness? Frustration? Tiredness? Repression of past feelings? Betrayal? In order to make the characters argue believably, you need to be in their headspace, and you can only do that if you know why they’re fighting in the first place.

Tone and pace

Build up

In order for an argument to be impactful to the reader, there needs to be some substantial escalation. Fights are like stories. There’s something that starts it, there’s rising tension, there’s a climax, and then there’s a cool down period before the resolution. Focus on the way you do the rising action especially, because the climax of the argument should be an “oh sh*t” moment.

Dialogue & Interraction

There are different types of arguments people can have. There’s the slow burn ones that the reader knows are coming, but are still really jarring when they come to pass. There are also the ones that seem like they’re out of nowhere if you don’t have context, but to someone who has been following maybe the past few days of the two people’s lives, they can tell that the actual subject of conflict isn’t what they’re really fighting about, but a deeper underlying issue they’ve both been struggling with. There are many ways an argument can go and feel to a reader, but a huge part of the subtext is how the two characters interact. 

If your characters are screaming about a dish that was put away wet and left a ring on the stained cabinets, it will be fairly obvious to the reader, as that sort of interaction, at surface level, wouldn’t serve much of a story-telling purpose, and therefore will lead the reader to assume there’s more to it and search their arsenal of contextual evidence to find the real source of tension between the characters. This can also be accomplished through clues in dialogue, such as sarcasm in response to when something relating to the actual issue is mentioned, or a lull in the argument when the two characters realize that they’re not really talking about a stupid bowl, are they?

Resolution

How the argument ends could be used to shift where the reader believes the story is going from there on. The end could be very insignificant to your story, as fights between characters are often used to get across some key information about characters or context or introduce new conflicts, which brings up my next point.

Integration

Arguments are a really good opportunity to integrate lots of important information for your reader in a way that shows instead of telling. You can use arguments to relay lots of information to your reader, such as:

Character tendencies

Relationships between characters

Smaller conflicts

Foreshadowing

Associations that will be useful in future scenes

Shifts in tone

Changes in the direction of the story

Underlying issues that might come up later

and many more.

Some General Tips To Keep In Mind

Always ask yourself “would so and so really do this?”

During arguments, people’s responses will often be blended with their reactions. Their face will be shocked and their words will be sharp. Try to include these little mixes in order to make the pace faster and more suspenseful.

Most large arguments start with something smaller and less significant

A lot of the time, the reactions won’t be like “i can’t believe he said that to me”, they’ll be defensive and/or a shot back without much thought.

Most arguments, especially between two characters who generally like each other, will end with something like one person walking out of the room, one person deciding to sleep on the couch, or one person avoiding or ignoring the other. Most fights between characters who know and matter to each other don’t end with a punch in the face.

Arguments don’t usually end when they’re no longer yelling at each other.

Support Wordsnstuff!

If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee.

Request Resources, Tips, Playlists, or Prompt Lists

Instagram // Twitter //Facebook //#wordsnstuff

FAQ //monthly writing challenges // Masterlist

Some of my personal favorite underrated Kaz moments from the books.

Co-workers: you're so anti-social, always in your little world.

Me: *sitting in the corner, disassociating while writing my book in my head*

Fanart poster made by me (Instagram / Twitter )

some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.

Drawing bases & pose references pt 47 ✨

There are 3 more poses for patrons!

50 WORDS TO USE INSTEAD OF “SAID”

Do you ever find yourself over-using the word “said” in your writing? Try using these words/phrases instead:

stated

commented

declared

spoke

responded

voiced

noted

uttered

iterated

explained

remarked

acknowledged

mentioned

announced

shouted

expressed

articulated

exclaimed

proclaimed

whispered

babbled

observed

deadpanned

joked

hinted

informed

coaxed

offered

cried

affirmed

vocalized

laughed

ordered

suggested

admitted

verbalized

indicated

confirmed

apologized

muttered

proposed

chatted

lied

rambled

talked

pointed out

blurted out

chimed in

brought up

wondered aloud

(NOTE: Keep in mind that all of these words have slightly different meanings and are associated with different emotions/scenarios.)

Question!!! But how do I integrate subtlety into my writing? Like I have a hard time picking up on it and I annoyingly have a tendency to tell not show, so I wanted to know if you have any advice!

Writing with More Subtlety

-- Getting the hang of "showing vs telling" is a great place to start if you want to integrate subtlety into your writing. Saying, "Moonlight glinted off the lake," is more subtle than, "The moon was shining."

Guide: Showing vs Telling

-- Learning to evoke emotion and ambiance with sensory description is another way to write with more subtlety. After all, saying, "The house was scary looking," is not as subtle as, "Thick fog curled around the decaying timbers of the once grand Victorian home."

Horror by Darkness Horror by Daylight

-- Knowing what internal and external cues can be used to illustrate your characters' feelings is also helpful, because, "Sarah was sad," is not as subtle as, "Tears pooled in the corners of Sarah's eyes, and she bit her upper lip to keep it from quivering."

Showing a Character's Feelings The Subtle Signs of Romantic Interest and Love

-- Learning to weave details into your story is also helpful, as it's more subtle to work details in naturally than to do a big info dump.

Weaving Details into the Story

-- Finally, learn to drop hints rather than declare something outright.

Dropping Hints without Giving Everything Away

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

LEARN MORE about WQA

SEE MY ask policies

VISIT MY Master List of Top Posts

COFFEE & FEEDBACK COMMISSIONS ko-fi.com/wqa

Hey there! I just came across this blog and im wondering if I could get some advice. I have a lot of trouble keeping motivation for a story. I'll have a new idea that im really excited about, ill write 10-20 pages of it, and then get bored of writing it. Any tips on how to keep myself invested in writing my own stories?

5 Reasons You Lost Interest in Your WIP, Plus Fixes!

It's not uncommon for writers to lose interest in their WIP. Staying on track, or getting back on track, are skills you'll acquire with time. Here are some of the reasons you might have lost interest in your WIP:

#1 - You're Not Sure Where the Story is Going. When you figure out a way into a story you're excited about, the beginning can be a piece of cake. It's all set up and inciting incident, which can be really really fun to write. But if you're not sure what needs to happen after the inciting incident, you can find yourself meandering and get bored quickly.

Fix - If you're writing a story that is plot-driven or a combination of plot-driven and character-driven (as most stories are these days), it may help to familiarize yourself with Basic Story Structure and also have a look at my post about How to Move a Story Forward.If you're writing a character-driven story, you can adhere to basic story structure or a more loose structure, but your character's arc will be the focus of the story. If you think plot and structure may be what's holding you back, you might spend time on my Plot & Story Structure post master list to read some of the other posts there.

#2 - Something Isn't Working. Stories are often like a house of cards in that one misplaced "card" can bring the whole thing crashing down. Sometimes you lose interest because an element or event didn't quite work, and you can feel in your gut that something's not right, so your brain interprets that as losing motivation. It's not really that you've lost interest in the story... it's that you've lost interest in the dead end path it's on.

Fix - Go back through what you’ve already written and look for something that’s not pulling its weight. It could be an unnecessary character dragging the story down, a subplot that is cluttering up the story or drawing attention away from the main plot, or it could be a scene/scenes that don’t add to the story. It could even be a combination of these things. If you can find it and fix it, your motivation may return.

#3 - You're Just Not in the Mood to Write. It could be that your interest in your WIP is just fine, you're just not in the mood to write. Our brains aren't always great at interpreting signals from our bodies, including other parts of our brain. The thirst signal is sometimes misinterpreted as hunger, which is why if you're feeling hungry when you shouldn't, you should try drinking a glass of water. Sometimes, in the same way, we're just not in the mood to write and our brains misinterpret that as a loss of interest in our WIP.

Fix - Consider what's going on in your life at the moment. Are you stressed? Are you distracted? Are you not feeling well? Sometimes you just need to give yourself a few days or weeks to let things resolve, and then you'll find your motivation has returned. Try doing things to Fill Your Creative Well in the meantime, or try some of the exercises in this post: Getting Unstuck: Motivation Beyond Mood Boards & Playlists

#4 - You're Overly Focused on Quality. One of the biggest WIP interest/motivation zappers is focusing too much on quality in your early drafts. If you're fixated on things like description, flow, theme, symbolism, grammar, etc. in your first draft, you're going to mentally

Fix - Remember, your early drafts should be more about getting the story down and working out the kinks. Don't worry so much about things like description, grammar, details, etc. until you've got all of that hammered out. And remember that the whole point of editing and revision is to polish your draft. You get the story down and make it pretty later.

#5 - You're Letting Yourself Get Distracted by New Ideas. The thrill of coming up with a new idea is part of the fun of being a writer. One of the pitfalls of being a writer is new ideas sometimes distract you from your WIP. We can be completely into our WIP, then a new idea comes along and our brains say, "Ooo! Look at the shiny pretty!" And off we go. Some writers, particularly seasoned ones, are able to work on multiple WIPs at once, but you should focus on one WIP at a time if you commonly lose interest before they're finished.

Fix - When you get a new idea, write it down in a notebook and/or in a document on your device. Once the idea is "down on paper," just forget about it. Imagine that it vanishes once it's recorded and you close the notebook/document. It takes practice, but you'll get better at ignoring the pull of a new idea.

Here are some posts from my Motivation post master list that might also help:

Guide: How to Rekindle Your Motivation to Write Feeling Unmotivated with WIP Getting Unstuck: Motivation Beyond Mood Boards & Playlists Getting Excited About Your Story Again

Have fun with your story!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

Visit my FAQ

See my Master List of Top Posts

Go to ko-fi.com/wqa to buy me coffee or see my commissions!